Heroes' Trial: Twilight Princess
by FairyTalePrincess16
Summary: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Rosalina and Sonic get sent into Hyrule where they meet a young man named Link. But when the veil of twilight starts to spread through the land, they all must suffer a transformation and team up with an imp to restore light and face evil while also discovering secrets about Sonic and Link's past. (On Hiatus. Will be rewritten.)
1. A Quiet Village

**A new story! After spending some time writing Mario stories, I think it's time to move on to Zelda for a little bit. Also, this was meant to be a sequel from a certain Zelda crossover story from my friend Craig T. Crocodile, having only Link and Sonic, but I decided to add Mario characters too, meant to be their ancestors mentioned in my second Galaxy Heroes story, so this is like the continuation of that previous story told by Rosalina.**

 **The reason this type of story came into my mind? I and my dad were playing _Twilight Princess HD_ recently, and it made me want to write this!**

 **I really hope that you'll enjoy this story. And please leave a review and hold the flames. I would appreciate your support.**

 **So, let's begin! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: A Quiet Village**

"… _When a land different from mines and the blue hedgehog's was at eras of peace, but when this land's goddesses feared theses years of peace would be short lived, they sent some unlikely allies in it, chosen by destiny, hoping that they would help the new hero save it. This land was called: Hyrule…"_

It was a calm and tranquil sunset in Faron Woods. At the Faron Spring, sitting on the ground, there were two men; one was a middle-aged one, and the other was a young one, around seventeen years old. They were listening to the calm waves and waterfalls from the spring as the middle-aged man spoke:

"Tell me… Do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls? They say it's the only time when our world intersects with theirs… The only time we can feel the lingering regrets of spirits who have left our world."

"I think I can feel it, Rusl. You say that I have to be quiet in order to feel it." The young man listened.

"Yes. That is why loneliness always pervades the hour of twilight…" the middle-aged man, who was named Rusl replied. "But enough talk of sadness… I have a favor to ask of you, Link."

"You mean that favor where I have to deliver something to the royal family of Hyrule in your place?" the young man named Link asked.

"Yes, it was a task set to me by the mayor, but…with my wife's pregnancy and our new baby on the way, I need to stay home with her and Colin."

"I see…"

"But you have…never been to Hyrule, right?"

"I…don't think so."

"In the kingdom of Hyrule there is a great castle, and around it is Castle Town, a community far bigger than our little village… And far bigger than Hyrule is the rest of the world the gods created. You should look upon it all with your own eyes."

Rusl gets up and speaks: "It is getting late… We should head back to the village. I will talk to the mayor about this matter."

Link also got up and both headed to the spring's gate with Link's horse, Epona, who was equipped with her saddle and bridle, carrying six bushels of branches. Link was holding on Epona's bridle as he and Rusl exited the Woods and crossed a wooden bridge over a ravine. At the other side, Rusl closed the gate and they went on, talking about the events for tomorrow, passing by the Ordon Spring.

At outside of Link's house, Link wrapped Epona's bridle on a stake and watched Rusl leave with his wife, Uli, and his only son for now, Colin, leave. Before leaving, Colin looked back at Link with a smile. Link smiled back at him.

* * *

Soon, an unknown teenage girl walked towards Epona, unwrapped her bridle and took her into the same path where Link and Rusl just passed by.

Then, another man around Link's age came in rushing towards Link's house, unknown about the recent event that happened, and called loudly:

"Hey! Link! You there?"

Link appeared by the window. "What is it, Fado?"

"Hey, you mind helpin' me herd the goats? They ain't listenin' to me lately!"

Link responded with a small nod. But as soon as the young man left the window, Fado noticed that Epona was gone.

"Hey, where's Epona?" he questioned.

Link came down and also realized that his horse was missing. He sighed; he knew who did that.

" _It must be Ilia again…_ " he said in his thoughts. "I'll get Epona. Meet me at the ranch." He requested.

Fado thanked Link and left to the ranch. Link went to the path on the right, which leads to the Ordon Spring. There, he found Ilia, tending Epona.

"Oh, hi, Link." Ilia looked at her side and saw her friend. "I washed Epona for you!"

"Wow, thanks Ilia." Link thanked. He then told her about Fado's request.

"I wonder what's gotten into them." Ilia wondered. She then got an idea: "Oh, but listen, Link… Could you do something for me? Can you use a piece of grass to play that song for me? You know, the one that Epona likes?"

"Oh, you mean Epona's Song? Sure."

Link found a piece of grass and picked it up; it was shaped like a horseshoe. He played the song and as soon as Epona heard it, she went to her mister, neighing.

Link thanked Ilia again as he hopped on Epona's saddle and gallops his way to the ranch. He passed by Ordon Village and reached Ordon Ranch, where he met up with Fado. Fado gave the signal and Link herded the goats into the barn while riding Epona. He finished in ten minutes flat.

"Ten minutes?! That's a new record!" Fado exclaimed.

"I bet I can do better next time!" Link grinned.

"Do that and absolutely no one would beat you." Fado said. "It's almost evening. Sorry for keeping you up!"

"It's okay, Fado. Good night."

Link ordered Epona to jump over the fence leading out of the ranch and galloped his way back home. There, he wrapped Epona again, climbed the ladder and entered his house, which was nestled in a large tree. We could watch the lights in his house being turned off.

* * *

 _Little this young man knows that he might meet some strange faces by tomorrow…_

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Yeah, I know, very short intro and nothing too exciting happened at the moment. But I PROMISE that the next chapter will be more exciting, and it will show Sonic and the Mario characters appearing into the world of Twilight Princess! Please review.  
**


	2. The Visitors

**I hope this chapter becomes a bit more exciting than the previous one.**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The Visitors**

"Urgh… My head…" we could see a blue teenage hedgehog who was previously lying unconscious at the Faron Spring's shore waking up and groaning, placing his hand on his head.

He slowly opened his eyes and noticed unfamiliar surroundings, which was weird.

" _Where am I?_ " he said in his thoughts.

But he soon discovers that he wasn't alone, because he heard other voices from behind him:

"What just happened?" an Italian-sounding voice spoke.

"I wish we would know, Bro…" another Italian-sounding voice spoke.

"Does anyone remark what happened earlier?" a female voice spoke.

"The only thing I remember was that we were suddenly caught by a bright light during my visit to your kingdom, and that's all." Another female voice, but this one was echoing, spoke.

"Hmm? Hey, I don't think we're the only ones here…" a chubby and cute voice spoke.

The blue hedgehog noticed that the chubby voice was referring to him. He turned around to see the source of the voices, and saw a man clad in red, another one clad in green, a woman wearing a pink dress, another woman wearing a turquoise dress, and a green dinosaur, in which he assumed that this dinosaur was the source of the chubby voice.

A huge moment of silence occurred, until the red-clad man broke the silence, recognizing the blue hedgehog:

"Wait, aren't you… Sonic?!"

The blue hedgehog named Sonic suddenly felt something coming into his mind; he remembered who the man in red was.

"And you're Mario!" he spoke.

"How do you two know each other?" the man in green asked.

"I and Sonic were longtime rivals in the past, but we soon became friends." Mario answered.

"That's right! But, how'd you and I assume they are your friends end up here as well?" Sonic asked.

"We were just doing a welcoming party to Rosalina because it was the one-hundredth year in my kingdom, and she visits it in every hundred years, until we suddenly were caught by a bright light and that's it." The woman in pink explained.

"For me, I was just battling with my archenemy in the Space Colony ARK, but when I tried to do Chaos Control, some random bright light engulfed me and I blacked out. And poof! Here I am." Sonic explained.

"Sounded very similar to our case. Oh, and I guess you don't know who my friends are. This one right here is my brother, Luigi, over there is Peach, there is Yoshi, and finally Rosalina." Mario introduced his friends.

"Nice to meet you, Sonic." Rosalina said.

Sonic thought at first that it was weird hearing Rosalina's voice echoing every time she speaks, but he was happy to meet new faces.

"So, do you have any idea about where we are?" he asked.

"No idea, but this looks like a forest." Luigi said.

"Maybe we should explore and find someone who can tell us about this place." Mario suggested.

"Good idea. For now on, we should stick together." Sonic assured.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"Hey, wake up, Link! It's morning already!" Link woke up to a boy's call.

He came out of his treehouse and saw three kids standing. They were the brothers Talo and Malo and Beth, the shopkeeper Sera's daughter.

"Oh, Link! Didja hear? They're selling a slingshot at the store right now! A SLINGSHOT!" Talo said excited.

"Talo, if you and Malo want it so badly, just buy it at my parents' shop!" Beth rolled her eyes playfully.

"Do you see any Rupees in my hand? I can't afford that thing! C'mon, Beth, can't you just loan it to us for a while?" Talo pleaded.

"You know I'd get in trouble for that! If you two want it, save up your allowances or something."

"But…our allowances are terrible… Aww, I wish I was born into a family with a slingshot instead of one with a waterwheel…" Malo lamented.

Link walked over to Epona, and saw Colin petting her.

"Hi, Link… I finished the fishing rod I was making." He said. "I thought I'd give it to you first thing in the morning, but… My dad said, 'You just wait until Link comes to get it!' That's why I didn't bring it to you. Dad's out today, so would you ask my mom about it? I think she's by the river."

Link nodded and went to the village. There, he found Uli, Colin's mom by the river, who seems to have lost something.

"Oh, um, good morning to you." Uli spoke. "Did you come to get the fishing rod that Colin made?"

"Yes, I did. Is something wrong, Uli? I noticed that you looked worried about something." Link asked.

"Um, you have not seen a cradle come floating by here, have you? It is a baby's cradle made of finely woven tree bark… Oh, such a misfortune… How far could it have drifted, I wonder…"

Link searched around the river for any signs of the cradle, but no success. He then noticed a piece of grass on top of one of the platforms above the river. He climbed on it, picked up the hawk-shaped grass and blew on it.

This made a hawk land on his wrist. He looked around, and spotted something in the distance being held by a monkey. He sent the hawk there, and it eventually snatched the object from the monkey's hands and handed it back to Link; it was the missing cradle!

Link hurried back to Uli, who was smiling that Link managed to retrieve the cradle.

"Oh! Link! That cradle! Did you go to the trouble of finding it for me? My thanks to you!" she thanked. "Oh, that reminds me! There's something I am supposed to give it to you… Do you think you could carry that cradle and come with me back to my house?"

Link accepted the request and followed Uli back to her house. There, she hands him the Fishing Rod. As Link left to the shop, he spotted a familiar cat wandering around.

"That must be Sera's cat! But what is she doing outside?" Link pondered.

He guessed that the cat needs fish. So he went to a wooden dock to catch a fish for Sera's cat. He then catches a 10 inches Greengill; a very common fish in Ordon. Eventually, Sera's cat notices the smell of fish and went to where the tasty Greengill was. She meows and immediately takes it, while Link watched stunned as she runs back home through a cat door.

He enters the shop to find a happy Sera and she gladly let Link take the slingshot, which cost 30 Rupees. Once he bought it, he went back to the children and showed them the slingshot.

They of course begged Link to shoot at some targets with his new weapon, even though he was too old to use slingshots. Needless to say, he made a lot of bull's eyes, which left the children impressed.

* * *

 _ **Back with Sonic, Mario and Co**_

They wandered in Faron Woods, where they met a man named Coro, who gave them the name of this location. They were immediately puzzled by that; did they end up in another dimension or something?

Coro also gave them some lanterns and some Lantern Oil in bottles, since they were about to enter a very dark cave loaded with monsters. Even the enemies they've found were unfamiliar to them: there was a lot of Keese, Deku Babas and Rats.

"I wish I and my brother had some Power-Ups with us; that would've been a lot easier to fight those guys!" Mario complained.

"Hey, but you guys still have your powers and your hammers, right?" Peach said.

"Oh, yeah! I nearly forgot that I can still shoot fire!" Mario confirmed.

"And I can use my thunder powers." Luigi added.

"I can use my heart powers, Yoshi can use rainbow powers and Rosalina can do magic." Peach complemented.

"And I have super speed." Sonic finished.

"Well, that means I can just use my fire powers to light these torches and burn the webs then." Mario concluded.

They continued to venture through the dark cave, unaware of what might be up ahead.

* * *

 _ **Back with Link**_

As thanks for showing Link's amazing slingshot skills, the three children pestered him about a present that his mentor Rusl left for him in his house. He went inside and found a blue chest, containing a Wooden Sword inside.

"Thanks a lot, Rusl." Link said to himself and left his house with his new sword.

The children this time, urged him to show his sword skills on a scarecrow. After the tutorial, the children were left impressed.

"Thanks for showing those skills to us, Link!" Talo thanked. "So, uh, I… I think I get it… Kinda… Hmm… Maybe not… So this means that anytime one of those naughty monkeys shows up…"

Just then, a monkey showed up right behind Link, catching Talo by surprise:

"WAH!" he saw the monkey run away. "C'MERE, YOU!"

He, Malo and Beth ran after the monkey into the woods. Link decided to go after them too; the woods were too dangerous. He ended up passing by Beth and Malo, who couldn't keep up with Talo. Link followed the path ahead to Faron Woods.

But the path ahead to Coro's cabin was blocked by a gate.

"I knew I should've brought Epona. But how did Talo even managed to get past this gate?" Link spoke.

He found a piece of grass nearby and used it to call Epona. He gets on her and made her jump over the gate. There, he passed by the Faron Spring and met up with Coro, who gave him a Lantern to venture into the caves.

Because of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Rosalina and Sonic's actions in the cave, all of the torches inside were lit, leaving Link puzzled:

"Wow, all of the torches are lit? I guess someone else was here before… Was it Talo? Don't tell me he went there…"

However, the enemies have spawned back. Link fought Keese, Deku Babas and Rats with his Wooden Sword. He also founds treasure chests containing Rupees. Upon exiting the caves, Link found himself in a large forest environment filled with enemies. He found a tunnel, where he fought a Bokoblin that was guarding a treasure chest containing a key leading to the entrance of North Faron Woods.

As Link was making his way to the path leading to the Forest Temple, he heard some cries for help:

"Help! Help!" it sounded like Talo's voice.

But, he also heard unfamiliar cries for help too:

"Somebody help us!"

"Ugh, just who let those guys tie us like that?!"

"Whatever, let's just hope somebody else would free us!"

"No! No! Leave us alone!"

" _Those voices sound so unfamiliar to me… But if they're in danger, I'll have to help them too!_ " Link said in his thoughts.

He continues his path, and once he reached the entrance of the Forest Temple, he saw two Bokoblins threatening Talo and the monkey Talo was chasing, trapped in a wooden cage, and also four humans, a blue hedgehog and a green dinosaur wrapped in ropes.

Without time to waste, Link fought and killed both Bokoblins. He then went to the wooden cage and freed Talo and the monkey, and went to the six unknown people and sliced their ropes. Link wondered who might those people be, but he'll have to figure out later until they exit this dangerous part of the forest.

* * *

It was a long way back; it was already sunset. Link, Talo and the six other people were back at South Faron Woods. Talo was crestfallen and stopped for a bit, looking at Link.

"If you hadn't come, Link… Gee, me, that monkey and those new guys would've got eaten, probably! She and these guys here are actually pretty nice…"

"We were lost in those woods, so we wandered together until we bumped into Talo. We tried to protect him, so we got captured together." Peach explained.

"Um, Link… You're not gonna mention this to my dad, are you?" Talo pleaded. "He's always telling me to never, EVER go into the forest, 'cause he says it's dangerous… So you really can't tell him! Really! You have to promise!"

"I won't tell him, Talo." Link promised. "Now, your dad must be worried about you, so you should head back home."

Talo thanked Link, and also his new friends and ran back to the village. Link then turned his attention to the six new people.

"So, who are you guys? You were kind to help Talo. You're not from around here, right?" Link asked.

The group looked at each other, thinking of how they could tell Link that they're from another world, until Peach responded:

"Forgive us, sir. My name is Peach, over there is Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Sonic and Rosalina. And no, we're not from here. We, uh…were exploring this country but we got lost in these woods. And I guess you might know the rest."

"Now, could you tell us what your name is?" Rosalina asked in a polite tone.

Link noticed that Rosalina's voice was echoing, which he thought it was weird.

" _Those are some strange people…_ " he said in his thoughts. He quickly heads back to reality and told them:

"My name? It's Link. Nice to meet you all. I am a goat herder who lives in Ordon Village, which is located down this path. You all indeed seemed pretty lost, so why don't you come to the village? It's too dangerous to stay in the woods."

"Sounds like a great idea! I was wondering where we could stay." Luigi said.

Then, Link heard a familiar voice calling for him:

"Link!" it was from Rusl. "My son told me Talo disappeared into the woods and had not returned. I came as soon as I heard… But it looks like you have brought him home already… I apologize. Such a task should not fall to you."

"Well, it wasn't just me who helped him head home, these new guys behind me tried to protect him." Link said, directing to the group of six. "Everyone, he's Rusl, my mentor."

After Link introduced everyone to Rusl, he soon spoke:

"Well, it's great to meet new faces here, but… Tell me, have you noticed how strange this wood seems lately? I feel…uneasy about what may lie in wait… But anyway, Link… Tomorrow is finally the day. You will be departing for Hyrule. I think it is a good thing I have given this task to you… So good luck! And return safely! If you are lucky, you may even get to meet Princess Zelda! Ah ha ha!"

"Ha ha, good one, Rusl." Link chuckled. "But I also have a request; where are these guys going to stay for the night?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. My house has guest rooms for you all, so you can sleep there. Then, we could introduce yourselves by tomorrow." Rusl suggested.

"Cool. Thanks, Rusl." Sonic thanked.

"You're welcome, my furry friend."

They all went back to Ordon Village to sleep for tomorrow. But little they knew about the strange events happening in Faron Woods…

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Finally the group mentioned in the summary showed up! Now remember, the Mario and Sonic seen here are NOT the same ones from _Galaxy Heroes_ , they're their ancestors. And because this story is supposed to be a sequel to my friend's Sonic and Zelda crossover story, the Sonic in this story is the direct descendant of the Sonic from my friend's story, just like how the Link from TP is the direct descendant of the Hero of Time. A small 'link' to this will show up in the next chapter.  
**

 **The next chapter is where the real fun begins (I hope you get what I meant)! Please review.**


	3. Enter the Darkness

**This is where things get exciting!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Enter the Darkness**

The next day, everyone in the village was introduced by Sonic, Mario and Co. While the group of six was hanging in the village, meanwhile, Link was at Ordon Ranch, sitting alone on a hill, thinking about the new visitors.

"I remember that one of those visitors was a blue hedgehog… Why do I have a feeling that he looks slightly familiar? After all, he matches the hedgehog mentioned in the tales of old, when he worked together with an ancient hero to save Hyrule and that hedgehog's homeland when both worlds were fused…" Link thought.

His thoughts were soon interrupted by Fado:

"Hey! Link!" Fado called while heading towards Link as he stood up. "So, almost time for you to get goin', huh, Link? So how's about we finish up early today, bud?"

"Sure, but first, I need to get some people here." Link said.

"Oh, you mean the six visitors?"

"Yes, just hold on a moment. I'll be right back."

Link left the Ranch and into Ordon Village. There, he met up with the group, who had introduced themselves to everyone in the village.

"Good morning, Link. We greeted everyone in the village like Rusl said. Miss Uli showed us around." Mario spoke.

"This village sure looks peaceful." Peach commented.

"You're welcome. Hey, I want to show you all something. Come with me to the Ranch." Link directed them back to the Ranch.

There, they saw lots of goats around the field and watched Link blow on a piece of grass to call Epona. Once Epona came in, they were surprised by that.

"Wow! How did she come that fast?" Sonic asked.

"Well, Epona was always been my friend since we were young and that song became our thing. So no matter what, every time I play this song, she always comes to me." Link explained as he stroked Epona's muzzle.

"Oh, how friendly!" Rosalina giggled.

"Now, would you like to see how I wrangle those goats?" Link asked. Everyone nodded in response.

With that, Link got on Epona and told Fado he was ready. Fado then gave him the signal and Link managed to get all of the goats in the barn in 23 seconds. The group was impressed.

"Well, that about wraps 'er up for today, so how's about y'all head on over to the mayor's place?" Fado directed.

"Why to the mayor?" Sonic asked.

"Because I need to deliver a sword to the kingdom of Hyrule, and it's actually the first time I'm exiting Ordon." Link answered and gallops out of the Ranch.

"Fado, why exactly does Link need to go to Hyrule anyway?" Peach asked.

"Well, once a year, we have to pay a tribute of sorts to the vast kingdom of Hyrule. For this year, Rusl had made a sword, but he was actually tasked to be the one to deliver it by the mayor's orders, but due to his family situation, he decided that Link should do the task. After all, he does want to see the world." Fado explained.

"See the world?" Mario questioned.

"Ever since Link was a kid, he had never left the village in his life. He worked hard to help everyone in need since his parents' death. And when he was old enough, my father hired him to do this work. We all feel very grateful for him; maybe it's because of the old legends that he was told when he was young that made him go on an adventure someday like the New Hero of Time."

" _The New Hero of Time?!_ " Sonic said in his thoughts. " _Why does that sound familiar?_ " something was occurring in his mind.

"Uh, Sonic? You there?" Mario waved his hand in front of Sonic. Sonic blinked before speaking:

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing! I was just…spacing off."

Mario did a shrug and said to his crew: "Well, how about we go check on Link?"

The gang nodded and left the Ranch. As they were leaving, Mario suspected that Sonic was hiding something from them.

" _I think Sonic must be hiding something from us. I wonder what?_ " he said in his thoughts.

* * *

Once they were at the village, they saw Link and Ilia talking about his journey to Hyrule while the mayor of the village, called Mayor Bo, watches. The gang approached them and greeted. Mayor Bo then spoke to Link:

"Oh, done herdin' for the day, Link? Well, nice work."

"No problem, Bo." Link replied as he dismounts from Epona. Ilia goes to her and pets her.

"The royal gift Rusl told you about is ready, so you should get ready for your trip to Hyrule Castle. Now, the royal family requested this gift specifically, so it's real special. It'd be…bad…if the representative of Ordon were to be late for such an occasion, you get me, lad?" Bo spoke.

"Hey, Mayor Bo, could these visitors go along as well? I think they would like to see more of this land!" Link asked.

Bo took a closer look at them, and replied with a smile: "Why, of course! It wouldn't be so bad if they could see more of this land!"

"Thank you, mayor." Peach thanked.

"Please, just call me Bo." Bo chuckled.

"The path before you is a long one, my sweet horse…but please bear Link and those visitors safely along it." Ilia assured as she was still petting Epona. But then, she noticed something on Epona's leg. "Wait… What's this?"

Link, Bo and the group looked back at Ilia, who witnessed an injury in Epona's leg.

"What's happened? She's injured, isn't she?" Ilia said in an irritated tone.

" _Uh oh… There she goes…_ " Link said in his thoughts as he makes a guilty-looking face.

"Link! How could you! You were pushing Epona too hard again! I bet you hurt her leg by jumping the Ranch's fence, didn't you!" Ilia yelled at Link's face.

"Now, now, Ilia. There's no need to get so hot with him…" Bo tried to calm his daughter down, but she yelled at him:

"FATHER! How can you be so easy on him? You're the MAYOR! You should start acting like one!"

Both Link and Bo crest falls in guilty while the group of six watched stunned at Ilia's attitude.

"You poor thing…" Ilia laments on Epona as she takes her away. "It'll be all right, Epona. I'll take you to the forest spring right now. Once we soothe you in the spirit's spring, you'll feel better in no time!"

"Ilia! Wait!" Sonic called her and goes after her.

"Sonic! What are you doing?" Mario called and follows him.

The rest shrugged and followed Mario, leaving Link and Bo by themselves.

"Why, without Epona… The gift won't get delivered in time! Oh, this won't do…" Bo sighed.

"Yeah, I better go get Epona back!" Link said and leaves the village.

He first met up with the children standing at his house. Colin noticed Link and spoke:

"…Link, are you going to see Ilia? Maybe it's just me…but those guys don't normally let people through… Um, Link, you think… You think we can go see Ilia together?"

"Sure. Although that group already went to her. I just hope they're trying to reason her…" Link pondered.

"No problem, we can do this together." Colin replied.

As they were about to head to the spring, they met with Talo and Malo.

"Hey, we've been waiting for you, y'know, Link. Yesterday was soooo much fun! Yeah, chasing that monkey was great!" Talo exclaimed. "I was just telling Malo here about how we wanted to show it to him, but we let it go instead!"

"Oh, YOU didn't get caught, Talo?" Malo scolded.

"Oh! Colin! Way to spoil everything by telling your dad. Nice job." Talo said sarcastically; he wasn't happy with Colin.

"Yeah, thanks a lot!" Malo also said sarcastically, glaring at Colin. "We got scolded by our dad something awful. I thought it was never gonna end…"

"I bet you're trying to go see Ilia, aren't you? Well, there's no way I'm gonna let you pass!" Talo scoffed. He then turns his attention at the Wooden Sword Link had, rested on his back. "Oh, hey, neat! Link! Lemme borrow that wooden sword! If I'd had that wooden sword yesterday, I could've handled it all alone, definitely! C'mon! Let me borrow that wooden sword right now!"

"Uh, sure. Here you go." Link answered and handed his Wooden Sword to Talo.

"Whoa! YESSS!" Talo shouted in excitement. "With this thing… I'll show 'em!"

He and Malo went towards the scarecrow and played together.

"Link." Colin called. "Thanks… Those guys are always teasing me… What's so fun about swinging something like that around, anyway? I hate it… It's scary… But when I grow up, I'm gonna be just like you, Link! I don't want to learn about swords or anything, but could you teach me how to ride a horse sometime? Can you?! You have to promise!"

After speaking, Colin rushed to the spring where Ilia was. Link followed him into the path. Once he reached the spring's gates, they were closed shut. Link saw Ilia alongside Colin and the group.

"Link!" Colin noticed Link at the other side of the gate.

"If you came to take Epona back, you can FORGET it!" Ilia scoffed, turning to Link. "Why don't you think about what you've done for a change! I won't open the gate until you change your attitude!"

"Ilia, please, Link needs her to deliver the sword in time! Just think about what the royal family would act if he arrives too late!" Sonic tried to convince Ilia, but she ignored him. "Geez, that girl is so hard to convince." He whispered to his friends. He then tried again:

"Ilia, you don't know what happened yesterday…" but she didn't respond. "Urgh… Listen, Link, we don't know if she'll listen to us, but let us and Colin try to explain about Talo, the monkey and us, OK?"

"You crawl in here through the tunnel in back while we do, Link." Colin added, pointing to a tunnel at the woodland glade.

Link went around and found the tunnel hidden behind some tall grass. Getting onto his knees, Link crawled his way into the spring. He arrived just in time to see Ilia hearing about what happened to Talo.

"I had no idea… I hadn't heard the details about Talo's capture…and that you new guys helped him. But, Colin…"

Link approached them. Ilia noticed him and was about to approach Epona, only for the horse to move away from her, snorting.

"So you still prefer your master over me, huh, Epona?" she then looks at Link. "Don't worry about your horse, Link. Fortunately, it looks like the injury isn't too serious. You two can go on together. But, Link… Can you at least promise me this? No matter what happens on your journey, don't try to do anything…out of your league. Please."

"Well, since we're going with him, we could watch him." Sonic joked, which made Ilia giggle.

"Oh, I never thought you were so funny, Sonic! All right, just come home safely you all."

"We promise, Ilia." Link nodded. He turns to the group. "Alright, guys, let's go."

But then, Sonic's ears started twitching.

"Wait… Do you hear that?"

Everyone could hear noises that sounded like thunder noises. But it wasn't thunder; it was galloping sounds.

All of a sudden, a massive boar crashes through the gate with two strange green creatures riding it. Everyone gasped in shock and tried to move out of the way. One of the creatures strikes Ilia with an arrow, causing her to wince in pain and fall on the ground.

"Ilia! No!" Link cried.

He was about to head to her, but another of the creatures knocked him out with a club in the head.

"Link!" the group of six cried.

They watched both creatures taking away an unconscious Ilia and Colin. Soon, a massive boar comes in, stopping by their side. Another of those green creatures, which they assumed it was their leader, was riding the massive boar. He scans around the area for a little bit before taking out a huge horn and blowing on it. With that, something strange materializes in the sky; it looked like some sort of black portal with very odd markings.

The leader tells his comrades to leave. Once they were gone, the group watched Link's eyes slowly open.

"Oh thank god! You're awake!" Peach said relieved.

"Hmm…? What happened?" Link groaned as he sits up. But before anyone could explain anything to him, he gasped: "Hey! Where's Ilia? Colin? And Epona?!"

"They were taken by those weird guys!" Sonic explained.

"Oh no… Where could they…?" Link looked around, and turned his attention to the broken gate. "Aha! That way!" he quickly sprints out.

"Link! Wait up!" the group called, following him.

They all ran out of the glade. However, as soon as they were running on the bridge, the group noticed that the sky was turning into dusk.

"What the? Dusk at this hour?" Sonic was confused as he was running.

Soon, they noticed that Link had come into a stop.

"Uh, Link? What's wrong?" Yoshi asked, noticing the stunned expression on Link's face.

"I think he's stunned at… That." Luigi pointed at their front while shrieking.

Then, the whole group was shocked at what they're seeing: at the point where the entrance to Faron Woods used to be was a strange large black wall with unusual orange markings on it.

"What in the world?! That wall wasn't there before!" Sonic was shocked.

"W-What's THAT?!" Luigi questioned in horror, still shrieking.

"I…don't know…" Link stuttered.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a pair of inky black hands came out of the wall and immediately grabbed the seven, pulling them into the wall as they screamed in horror.

* * *

What was at the other side of the wall? A very strange, veiled place of darkness with a dusky sky and strange spinning small black squares flying upwards. Eventually, the group of seven found themselves in the hands of a strange and alien-like being.

" _What the hell?!_ " they all thought.

They did their best to struggle and escape the being's grasp. It was then that the three-triangle birthmark on Link's left hand began to glow. The light grew brighter and blinded the being's eyes, causing him to toss his captives onto the ground.

However, this wasn't the end.

As they tried to get up, Link's birthmark glow was fading. They all started to feel similar pains; their bodies and eyes were twitching, sickness was coming to them as they felt the cracking on their bones and their hearts beating rapidly. They groaned and moaned in pain before finally giving a scream. In this instant, hair began to burst through every pore of their skins as their screams slowly turned into snarls. They collapsed…in the form of wolves.

The only exception was for Sonic, who was turned into a dark-blue Werehog. Link was now a black-grayish wolf, Mario was a gray-brownish wolf, Luigi was a gray and white wolf, Peach was a brown-reddish wolf with a white tail tip and black legs, Yoshi was a gray-yellowish wolf, and Rosalina was a white wolf. Shortly after their collapsing, the birthmark's glow on Link's left hand fades completely.

As the seven beasts were dragged away by the beings, a mysterious shadowy imp was watching them.

" _So it was true… Interesting…_ "

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **I decided to call the hero's title from my friend's story "New Hero of Time" because it mentioned that the Link from his story was the descendent of the original Hero of Time.  
**

 **I looked at some images of wolves in Google to describe and choose which colors of wolves I want to use for Mario and his crew when they turn into those.**

 **What's going to happen next? Find out in the next chapter! Please review.**


	4. Midna and the Twilight Princess

**Next chapter finally done!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Midna and the Twilight Princess**

Somewhere in a dungeon, we could spot an unconscious black-grayish wolf chained to the ground, inside a prison cell. At the cell on the left, we could see five more unconscious wolves, plus a dark-blue Werehog also chained to the ground. The first one to regain consciousness was the black-grayish wolf.

" _ **What the…? What happened?"**_

Link tried to speak out of his thoughts, but sounds of growls came instead. Confused, he looked down at what supposed to be his hands, only to find out that they were replaced by paws.

" _ **Huh?! I am a wolf?!"**_

His shock soon wore off when he realized that he was inside a prison cell and chained to the ground.

" _ **Great, I'm a wolf, and now I'm imprisoned in a cell. Just my day…"**_

At the cell from the left, Sonic was the next to regain consciousness.

"Ugh… What happened?"

But then, he realizes that his voice sounded low and rough. He looked at his hands, only to find out that they were large, bare and had claws.

" _Oh crap! I'm a Werehog again?! But why?_ " he said in his thoughts.

Soon, he heard quiet growls from behind him. He looked back and saw five different-colored wolves.

" _Are those… Mario and Co?!_ "

" _ **Uhhh… What happened?"**_ Luigi groaned, in which in reality came out as a small grunt.

" _ **Did I just hear a wolf's grunt?"**_ Yoshi said confused, which came out as a confused-sounding whine. _**"Hey! Why did I whine?"**_

Then, the five wolves looked at themselves, and barked in shock. Sonic couldn't understand anything that's happening, since he couldn't understand dog language.

" _ **Ack! What the?! Why are we wolves?!"**_ Luigi said shocked and horrified, which came out as a horrified-sounding bark. _**"No! No! This can't be!"**_

" _ **Brother, please calm down."**_ Mario said, which came out as a saddened whine.

" _ **Good thing we can understand each other, even as wolves."**_ Rosalina pointed out.

" _ **But we're not in the forest anymore… Hey, look! There's…Sonic?!"**_ Peach noticed that Sonic has also changed. _**"What happened to him?"**_ she asked, which came out as a yelp.

" _ **I think he has turned into a werewolf. But since he's a hedgehog; that makes him a werehog."**_ Rosalina explained.

" _ **Hey! Sonic! Can you understand us?"**_ Yoshi called, which came out as barks.

"That one must be Yoshi; I can tell by the eyes. But what's he doing? Is he trying to talk to me? It sucks that I can't understand them…" Sonic rolled his eyes.

The wolves heard what Sonic said, and became worried.

" _ **Oh no! Sonic can't understand us!"**_ Peach said worried, which came out as worried-sounding whines.

" _ **That's not good. By the way, where's Link?"**_ Rosalina noticed that Link wasn't with them.

Back with Link, he was trying to bite the chain off, but no use. After the struggle, his ear twitches; there was someone else in here. He looked at his right and there was an imp standing there. It seemed lifeless at first, until it opened its visible eye and showed a toothy grin as it jumps over Link, landing behind him.

" **I found you!"** it smirked.

Link began to snarl at the imp, but that didn't seem to scare it.

" **Oooh! Aren't you scary!"** the imp teased. **"Eee hee! Are you sure you want to be doing that? Snarling and glaring at me? Well, that's too bad. I was planning on helping you and the others…if you were nice."**

" _ **The…others?"**_ Link stopped snarling as his ears perked up.

" **Eee hee! That's much better! You humans are obedient to a fault, aren't you? Oops! But you AREN'T a human anymore, are you? You're a beast! Eee hee!"** the imp mocked, rolling her eyes playfully and patting Link's chin.

This made Link irritated, and tries to bite the imp, only for it to jump out of the way while giggling.

" **There, there. You be a good boy and calm down. No need to bite!"**

The imp then casted a dark energy ball with her hands, and with a swift movement, it shatters. In reaction, the chain on Link's restraint was broken, leaving only the band shackled on his left leg as well as four linked chains. This startled Link, but no more than the imp appearing in front of his face.

" **You look kind of surprised! Eee hee hee!"**

The imp starts to phase back out of the cell.

" **So! I bet you're wondering, where exactly are we?!"** it said and continues upon appearing on the other side. **"Well, I'll make you a deal. If you can get over here, maybe I'll tell you! And while you're searching for a way out, I'll go ahead and free your friends! Eee hee!"**

The imp then let out a yawn, and moved to the left.

Link was thinking of how to get out. That is until a pile of boxes caught his attention. He bumps into them, revealing a patch of dirt in the ground.

" _ **Well…since I AM a wolf, I might as well dig my way out."**_ He thought.

With the imp, it also helped the six other beasts to get out by breaking their chains and they got out of the cell, since it was half-open.

Soon, they noticed Link emerging out from the ground and shaking to get the dirt out of his fur.

" _ **Link! Is that you?"**_ Peach pleaded, which came out as a whine.

" _ **Peach?"**_ Link looked at her and also noticed the other wolves and a werehog standing by. _**"So you got turned into wolves too?"**_

" _ **Yeah, and for some reason, Sonic became a werehog instead."**_ Mario responded, which came out as a grunt.

" _ **Strange…I wonder why have we turned into beasts?"**_ Link wondered.

" _ **Me too. And what's worse is that Sonic cannot understand us."**_ Yoshi replied, which came out as a small whine.

" _ **I think it's going to be weird that Sonic will constantly hear dog noises as we communicate…"**_ Luigi sighed.

" _ **Hold on, where is that imp?"**_ Link questioned.

Eventually, giggling noises echoed around the room as the seven beasts looked around. Suddenly, Link felt that something has landed on his back; it was the imp. Noticing it, Link began to run in circles, trying to get it off him.

" **Hmph! I guess you're not completely stupid after all!"** the imp scoffed sarcastically. Link stops running as the imp pats his head. **"Listen, I like you, so I think I'll get you and your friends out of here."** It then grabs him by his ear and continues: **"But in exchange for my help, you all have to do EXACTLY as I say!"**

" _Geez! What's with this imp?_ " Sonic said in his thoughts.

" **Oh, by the way, my name is Midna."** The imp named Midna said. **"So, are we all clear?"** the seven beasts nodded to her. **"Good. Now, come on! Get moving!"**

They proceeded to the cell where Sonic and the five other wolves were imprisoned. There, they found a long chain with a pull-handle at the end. Link leapt to the handle and pulled it, which made the small barred gate blocking the exit to release, leading to a sewer channel.

Upon emerging out, they all noticed a strange cyan flaming mist floating at their front.

"What the heck is that?" Sonic asked.

" **Oh… Well, well… Eee hee hee! You! Six wolves! Want to see something interesting? Try using your senses and poke around…"** Midna said.

The six wolves used their senses and became surprised at what they saw; it was the spirit of a soldier!

"Huff… Huff… Can't…run…any…farther… That's…far enough…right? I'll be safe here…I think… What was that noise?! Don't… Don't anything come near me!" they listened the soldier panicking.

" _ **Strange that this soldier can't see us…"**_ Link pondered.

As the six wolves deactivate their senses, Midna spoke:

" **That was a soldier's spirit. Maybe it's someone from the other world? Eee hee!"**

" _Suuure he is…_ " Sonic said in his thoughts sarcastically.

* * *

They continued forward in the sewers, pulling more handles to open passages and raise the water level so that they could pass over some spikes, fighting strange black crawling enemies called Twilit Vermins that were freaking out the soldiers, and eventually reached a spiraling staircase. Once they reached the top with the help of Midna and walking over tightropes, they came upon an opened door high above.

" **So… You know where we are yet? Eee hee! Well…if you go to the top, you might figure it out!"** Midna giggled before helping the beasts get up to the door.

They emerged out and they could see high towers under the pale dusky sky, so they assumed that they were at the rooftops.

" _ **Whoa… What's this place?"**_ Mario questioned.

" _ **I have no idea."**_ Link replied, which came out as a grunt.

Sonic noticed the confused expressions on the six wolves. "I guess they don't know where we are." He pointed out.

Midna just ignored Sonic's speech, and spoke: **"So, we were finally able to get out. And look at the sky! Isn't the black cloud of twilight looking beautiful today? Do you know where this is? You STILL don't know? Eee hee hee!"**

" _Man, I do not like this girl's teasing…_ " Sonic said in his thoughts annoyed.

" **Look, there's someone I want to introduce you to…but I'll need you to go to that tower to do it!"** Midna directed.

As they walked on the rooftops of the castle, they were attacked by Twilit Keese and Twilit Kargaroks. Link used his powerful jaws to bite the Keese. For the Kargaroks, Sonic attacked one of them by using his fists and his large arms while the other wolves used their jaws to snap the other Kargaroks' necks.

Once they took out some of those monsters, they saw reinforcements coming. That is, until Sonic spotted the entrance to the tower.

"This way!" he called the wolves to head into the entrance.

Inside, they only had to climb some stairs and go through a half-opened door. They were now inside some sort of room with a fireplace, a study and a simple bed. But what caught the beasts' attention was the sign of a person cloaked in black, looking at the sky through a window. Link immediately snarls silently in defense while Midna snickers silently.

The person slowly turned around, revealing part of a woman's face. As the beasts approached the woman, Midna rolled her eyes playfully.

"…Midna?!" the woman asked, surprised.

" **Eee hee! You remembered my name? What an honor for me…"** Midna grinned.

"So, these are the ones for whom you were searching…" the woman said, looking at the seven beasts.

" **They're not exactly what I had in mind, but…I guess they'll do."** Midna pondered.

The woman kneeled down to their level and caught a glimpse of the chain bands on their legs.

"You were imprisoned?" the woman asked.

The beasts looked at their left legs, seeing what she was talking about.

"I am sorry." She replied, saddened.

"What do you mean by that? You didn't seem to be at fault here." Sonic asked.

" **Poor things, they have no idea where this is or what's happened…"** Midna said while patting Link on his head. **"So, don't you think you should explain to them what you've managed to do? You owe them that much… Twilight Princess! Eee hee!"**

" _ **Twilight Princess?"**_ the six wolves questioned in unison.

The woman looked down for a moment, until she spoke:

"Listen carefully… This was once the land where the power of the gods was said to slumber. This was once the kingdom of Hyrule."

" _This was Hyrule?! The same place I, Mario and his crew was going to explore with Link?!_ " Sonic gasped in his thoughts.

" _ **But…why would Hyrule get to be into this state?"**_ Link questioned.

"But that blessed kingdom has been transformed by the king that rules the twilight…" the woman continued. "It has been turned into a world of shadows, ruled by creatures who shun the light…"

The scene shifts into Hyrule Castle's throne room. The princess's soldiers were positioned in an attack formation. It was then that a shadowy curtain came into the castle, and out of it came out shadow beasts. The soldiers tried to beat them, but they were quickly caught by those beasts' grasps.

Then, the king of shadows arrived and gave the princess an ultimatum:

"It is time for you to choose: surrender or die. Oh yes, a question for all the land and people of Hyrule… Life? Or death?!"

The two guards looked at the princess shocked; they have absolutely no idea of what she would choose. The princess didn't want her people to perish, so she chose to surrender and dropped her sword.

Hyrule Castle was aflame, and the people of Castle Town watched the scenery stunned as twilight covered the area and they were turning into spirits.

"Twilight covered Hyrule like a shroud, and without light, the people became as spirits. Within the twilight, they live on, unaware that they have passed into spirit forms… All the people know now is fear… Fear of a nameless evil…" the woman explained.

" _ **Living into a world of fear for the rest of the life? That's horrible…"**_ Peach lamented, which came out as a saddened whine as her ears dropped down.

"The kingdom succumbed to twilight, but I remain its princess…" the woman said.

With that said, she removed her hood, revealing that she was a human, like Link was.

"I am Zelda." The woman named Zelda announced in a distressed tone.

" **You don't have to look so sad!"** Midna said playfully. **"We actually find it to be quite livable! I mean, is perpetual twilight really all that bad?"**

" _That imp thinks living in a world of fear isn't bad?! She's crazy!_ " Sonic said in his thoughts.

"Midna… This is no time for levity. The shadow beasts have been searching far and wide for you." Zelda spoke in a serious tone. "Why is this?"

" **Why indeed? You tell me! Eee hee hee!"** Midna replied after levitating a few inches away from Link while shrugging.

Seeing that she wasn't going to get a straight answer from Midna, Zelda turned her attention to the beasts.

"Time has grown short. The guard will soon make his rounds. You must leave here, quickly."

The beasts nodded and left. But then, as they were going down the stairs, they heard a creaking door noise, followed by footsteps.

" **Not that way! The guard's coming!"** Midna alerted.

"Boy, he's prompt!" Sonic muttered.

Midna scanned around, and noticed a window above them. She quickly directed them to the window and they escaped right in time.

* * *

They were back at the rooftops; it was raining outside, where Midna floated in front of them, giggling:

" **Eee hee hee! Well? Do you understand where we are now? I guess a promise is a promise, so I'll let you go back to where you first tumbled into twilight... But…are you really sure you should be going back? Are you sure you aren't forgetting anything important?"**

Then, in two twirls, Midna took the forms of a screaming Colin and Ilia.

" _ **Colin… Ilia… Now I know why we are in the twilight in the first place…"**_ Link thought.

" **Eee hee! Do you want to save them?"** Midna asked, still as Ilia. **"Well, in that case, little Midna would be happy to help you!"** she then returned to her former self and continued: **"But… Well, you'd have to be my servants…and like servants, you'd have to do exactly as I say! Why don't you go back, take a little time, and give it some thought. Eee hee hee!"**

" _That's it; I do not like this girl at all._ " Sonic scolded in his thoughts.

Eventually, the seven beasts broke into black, squared-like particles and vanished. Midna followed suit.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **I gave bold texts to Midna's speeches to complement with the blue texts in the game, so that we could see that she speaks differently. I had to think of a good way to make the wolf characters speak, so I used bold and italic. I like how I made Sonic annoyed at Midna's arrogance and scornfulness (and believe me, I was actually annoyed at Midna for the first time I got my hands on this game)!  
**

 **Where did Midna take our beast heroes? Find out in the next chapter! Please review.**


	5. The Heroes Awaken

**What a long chapter! I'm happy I've finally finished it!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: The Heroes Awaken**

At the Ordon Spring, the seven beasts were reformed by the portal in the sky.

" _ **Well, we're back at the spring."**_ Link said.

" _ **And we're still beasts…"**_ Yoshi added.

Sonic turned around to see the six wolves looking around, but then, he noticed that Midna was gone.

"Hey! Where's Midna?"

Hearing Sonic, Link turned his head to his back, and indeed; Midna wasn't there.

They all started to scan the area to search for Midna, but the only thing they heard was her voice:

" **Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention one thing… Though you may have left the darkened realm, you haven't transformed back to your former selves…and you won't anytime soon! Now why could that be? Eee hee hee! See you later!"**

"Good riddance…" Sonic rolled his eyes.

He heard the six wolves snort in agreement.

" _ **So, what do we do?"**_ Peach asked, which came out as a questioning-sounding whine.

" _ **Well, I'm worried about my village. Maybe we should go there and check the remaining villagers."**_ Link directed to the spring's exit.

" _ **Are you crazy?! Link, we're beasts now! We're going to scare everybody there!"**_ Luigi questioned, which came out as a worried-sounding bark.

But Link didn't listen, and was heading to the broken gate. Sonic noticed the six wolves heading out ad decided to follow them. After all, he can't understand what they're saying.

Suddenly, Midna's voice came in again:

" **So, um, what next?"**

"Midna?! Where the heck are you?!" Sonic demanded.

Eventually, to everyone's surprise, Midna emerged out of Link's shadow!

" **Eee hee hee!"** she giggled. **"Did you think I'd disappeared?"**

" _To be honest, I was hoping you did…_ " Sonic said in his thoughts.

" _ **I can see that Sonic doesn't like Midna's attitude…"**_ Yoshi noticed Sonic's distaste about Midna.

The sun was starting to set as Midna continued:

" **Listen, there's another thing I forgot to tell you… Don't think you can just run off and save your friends, because you can't."**

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sonic asked in almost an annoyed tone.

" **Just beyond that bridge, the land is covered in twilight. Last time, a shadow beast pulled you through the curtain of twilight… But if you want to go that way this time, you'll need the cooperation of someone FROM the twilight…like me!"** Midna answered. **"So you really have no choice but to do what I say."**

"Guess a promise is a promise." Sonic shrugged.

" _ **Indeed."**_ Mario agreed, which came out as a nodding snort.

" **Saving your friends and all that… Well, that depends on your actions… Because you never can trust words, you know. Right now, I want a sword and shield that'll suit me."**

" _ **A sword and a shield?! Just where are we going to find those?!"**_ Link thought.

" **You all understand me, don't you? Eee hee hee! So, what do you plan to do? While you're here dawdling, the twilight continues to expand. Come on! Hurry up!"**

Midna returned into Link's shadow. The seven beasts looked at each other, silence was filling the area.

" _ **So, could you lead the way to the village, Link?"**_ Rosalina asked.

" _ **Sure."**_ Link responded, which came out as a nodding snort.

Sonic noticed the six wolves going to the glade.

"Are you guys going back to the village?" Sonic asked them. They nodded. "Alright, let's go."

However, Bulblins were roaming the area; even at Link's house.

" _ **Why are these guys here?!"**_ Yoshi asked, which came out as a panicked-sounding bark.

" _ **I guess they decided to roam these woods ever since their invasion."**_ Rosalina guessed as she and the others were fighting the Bulblins.

Soon after all of the Bulblins roaming the area of Link's house were defeated, the group was about to leave to the village until they heard someone's call:

" _ **Wait!"**_

" _ **Who said that?"**_ Yoshi questioned as the wolves stopped.

Sonic didn't notice their stopping, so he continued forward, leaving the six wolves by themselves.

" _ **It sucks that we're not able to talk to him."**_ Link grumbled, which came out as a snort.

" _ **Uh, guys? I think that squirrel just talked to us…"**_ Luigi turned around to spot a squirrel standing on top of the ladder.

" _ **A squirrel?!"**_ the rest of the wolves questioned shocked.

They looked at the top of the stairs to notice the squirrel. To their surprise, the squirrel began to speak to them:

" _ **Thank you for taking care of those bad guys! They made both the village and the forest a mess… They kidnapped the village children… But I know…you're not one of them. I can tell because you smell like the trees of Ordon… So if you run into any trouble, try talking to the animals. We animals understand one another, so you'll be all right!"**_ he then leaves.

" _ **Okay… That was new."**_ Mario was stunned.

" _ **Even though I can already understand animal language, it never fails to have five more with the same talent!"**_ Yoshi chirped, which came out as a happy-sounding whine.

" _ **Anyways, we better catch up with Sonic; he might be already at the village, and who knows what he might do!"**_ Link demanded, which came out as a bark.

The wolves sprinted quickly to the village.

* * *

Night falls at Ordon Village, the adults were all worried about their children. Sonic noticed Beth's father, Hanch, standing on top of one of the plateaus, moaning in despair:

"Ohhh… How did it come to this? The children… Please say nothing's happened… Please forgive your good-for-nothing father…"

Sonic heads to the area next to the waterwheel, where he found Jaggle, Talo and Malo's father, and Mayor Bo talking about something interesting:

"Oh! About the shield…"

"Hey! Not so loud…"

" _Shield? Maybe those guys know exactly where a sword and shield can be found here._ " Sonic said in his thoughts as he slowly approaches them and heard:

"…So, that shield is still in your house, right?" Bo asked.

"Uh, yeah, it should be in our storage loft." Jaggle answered.

"Good! Go grab it, quick as you can!" Bo demanded. "Rusl got wounded pretty bad, so he can't go search for the kids. I'll take over for him."

"But Rusl had a sword, Mayor! And he STILL got hurt! If you're unarmed, you're done for!"

"I'll be fine. The sword we were goin' to present to the royal family should still be at Rusl's house."

"Oh yeah? All right, I understand, Mayor. I'll hurry up and get that shield. You just wait here…"

But then, the two men noticed Sonic in his werehog form and got terrified.

"No good! Run!"

They ran away. Sonic wasn't expecting them to notice him.

" _Well, at least I know exactly where the sword and shield are._ " He said in his thoughts.

In order for him to reach the entrance on top of Jaggle's house, Sonic had to cross the plateau, where Hanch was still standing there. Worse, when Sonic moved to the pumpkin patch, Hanch spotted him.

"Mon-MONSTER!" he yelled.

" _Crap!_ " Sonic stuttered in his thoughts.

"You've returned for more, haven't you?!" Hanch cried. "My… My daughter… Return her! And TAKE THIS!"

With that, Hanch blew a hawk grass and once the hawk came, he tried to use it to attack Sonic.

" _Uh oh! Better run!_ " Sonic panicked in his thoughts as he runs away.

Once Hanch was out of sign, Sonic had to think of a way to get up there. He looked up and noticed a roof's house. He climbed up there by stretching his arms, and when he did it, he spotted Hanch on the plateau up ahead and smirked:

"Guess I'll just have to scare him them!"

He leaps over the plateaus until he reached the one Hanch was standing. He immediately turned around and freaked out that the werehog was right in front of him.

"WHOA!" he screamed in panic and jumped off.

"I feel bad for scaring him like that, but I had no other choice." Sonic shrugged.

He managed to reach the opened window at Jaggle's house and entered it. Inside, he spotted the Ordon Shield hanged on the wall over a ledge.

"There's the shield! I better get it!" Sonic said.

He grabs hold of the tall ledge and pulls himself up. He then knocked the Ordon Shield from the wall and picks it up.

"Shield, check. Now only the sword remains."

Once he left the house, he encountered the group of wolves standing in front of him.

"Where have you guys been? I've just found a shield all by myself!" Sonic argued.

Midna then came out of Link's shadow.

" **A shield, you say?"** she flew to Sonic and examined the shield. **"It looks…kind of cheap…"**

Sonic rolled his eyes at Midna's comment.

" **All right, then… Next is a sword. Hurry up and get one!"** she goes back in Link's shadow.

"Just to let you know, guys, I've heard a conversation about the locations of the shield and the sword. The shield was in this house, and the sword is at Rusl's house." Sonic told them.

" _ **Good. Let's head to Rusl's house, then."**_ Link directed them, which came out as a snort.

The beasts headed to Rusl's house, where they found Rusl and his wife, Uli. But then, Yoshi accidentally tripped on a log, causing a loud noise which was heard by Rusl.

"What was that sound?!" Rusl questioned. "The children could not have returned…could they? I must go out and search one last time. You get inside the house. I have placed the sword that was to be our gift to Hyrule on the couch. If the mayor comes for it, please give it to him."

"But, darling…your injuries!" Uli protested.

" _ **You HAD to call their attention, huh, Yoshi?"**_ Link growled at Yoshi, who got up on fours by himself.

" _ **Sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!"**_ Yoshi apologized, which came out as innocent-sounding whines.

Ignoring the recent event, Sonic told the wolves:

"Since I got the shield for you, I'll let you get the sword."

The wolves nodded and went towards Rusl's house, only to be immediately spotted by Rusl, who was exiting his house holding a torch.

"Beasts! I have found you!" he shouted and starts attacking them.

" _ **Hurry! This way!"**_ Link called the other wolves.

They followed Link, escaping Rusl's attacks and going towards the left side of the house, where there was a digging spot leading to the inside. They dug their way in, and eventually saw the Ordon Sword rested on the couch. Link picked it up with his teeth. Midna reappeared from his shadow.

" **All right… So now you have a sword. Looks like you can actually be useful when you concentrate! All right… No more detours. I'm going to take you all back into the twilight. Go back to the woods where you first transformed into that shape!"** she goes back into his shadow upon speaking.

The wolves left the house and reunited with Sonic.

"Did you get the sword?" Sonic asked. Link showed the Ordon Sword to him. "Good. Let's head back into the forest."

* * *

They exited the village, back to the glade. As they were about to head to the bridge, they heard a voice:

" _Wait… Come…to my spring…"_

Though they wanted to head into the forest, the seven went into the Ordon Spring. There, the mysterious voice spoke again:

" _You have…been transformed…by the power…of shadow… Come…to me…"_

But then, just as the beasts approached the center of the spring, all of a sudden, a ring of black pillars fell from the sky, creating an invisible barrier with red markings. The gang startled at that.

"What the-!" Sonic was stunned.

" _Beware… A shadow being… It approaches…"_ the voice spoke again before fading.

The same black portal with red markings that brought back the seven beasts to the spring reappears in the sky, and out of it came out a Twilit Messenger; the same kind of creature that pulled the group inside the twilight. The Twilit Messenger got up to its feet and roared at the seven beasts. They worked together to take out the Messenger, and once they did, it explodes into twilight shards and they flew to the sky, creating a portal with neon green markings instead of red.

Just then, the whole place becomes darker, but the rocks on the spring gave fluorescent glows to give some light to the area. At the same time, the water becomes golden as a single drop of water jumps up and splashed into the spring.

From the impact of the drop, a large sphere of light emerged out as the beasts watched it floating upwards with astonished looks on their faces. A giant goat's face materializes, followed by a body and finally the tail.

" _O brave youths… I am one of four light spirits that protect Hyrule at the behest of the gods. I am Ordona."_ The light spirit named Ordona spoke. _"The black beast you slayed was a shadow being called a Twilit Messenger. It had come to seize the power of light I wield."_

"So… That means we've arrived just in time?" Sonic asked.

" _Yes… The Twilit Messenger was about to cover Ordon in twilight too."_ Ordona answered.

" _ **Wow! So that was really close!"**_ Yoshi exclaimed surprised, which came out as a surprised-sounding snort.

" _My brethren in Hyrule have already had their light stolen by these fell beasts. The entire kingdom has been reduced to a netherworld ruled by the cursed powers of darkness. The blight will not stop with Hyrule. Before long, the entire world of light will fall into the hands of the king who rules the twilight."_

" _ **What a horrible situation…"**_ Peach whimpered, shocked by this story. In reality, this came out as a saddened-sounding whine.

" _To save this land from the king of twilight, the lost light must be recovered. The three light spirits who have lost their light must be revived. There is but seven who can revive them and redeem this land… You. You still have not discovered your true powers…"_

"But…why us?" Sonic asked.

" _Those transformed by twilight usually cannot recover their original forms… Unless… If you were to return to Faron Woods where you were first transformed… If you were to revive the light spirit… There, by the power of the light spirit, you may find the means to regain your other state of being…"_

"Hey, but what about the part that we still have not discovered our true powers? What do you mean by that?" Sonic asked.

" _You will see, Swift One…"_ as Ordona said that, it fades.

"So… I guess if we restore light to Faron Woods, we might turn back to normal." Sonic said, still unsure about this situation.

They all left the spring and crossed the bridge, where the sky turns into dusk like last time as they get closer and closer to the wall of twilight. Midna reappears.

" **Hey… Look… The Faron Woods that you know so well… They're now covered in twilight."**

" _No shit, Sherlock!_ " Sonic grumbled in his thoughts.

" **You might not be able to come back here, but… Do you still want to go?"**

The group of beasts looked at each other, all thinking of the same answer. They all nodded to Midna. She then passed through the wall, creating a ripple. Eventually, from the ripple, Midna's large orange hand from her hair came out, grabbed the seven and pulled them into the wall.

* * *

They were all in the veiled Faron Woods, where Midna shows up mounted on Link's back.

"Thanks for letting us in, but do you really had to do that in such a dramatic way?!" Sonic glared at Midna.

She just rolled her eyes playfully and grabbed the sword and shield to start wielding them, but she was wearing the shield in her face while holding the sword in her right hand.

" **Hmm! So these are the weapons you use in your world?"**

She tried to swing the blade, nearly hitting Link in the process. This made the other wolves shake their heads while Sonic face palmed.

" **You really think this thing can slay the creatures of twilight?"** Midna scoffed.

She then tossed the shield onto Link's face, making him a bit annoyed, and plunged the sword into the ground.

"… **Well, I won't use these, but I'll hang on to them for you!"** she said as she snapped her fingers to make the weapons disappear into twilight chunks. **"All right, a promise is a promise… I trust you enough to help. In exchange for my help, though, I need you all to gather some things for me."**

This made everyone except Midna raise their eyebrows.

"And what kind of things?" Sonic asked.

" **Look, I can't tell you all the details now, but it'll be easy, trust me…"** Midna smirked.

Soon, they heard silent moans.

" **But enough about that. Do you hear that noise? It's the lamentation of the spirit that had its light stolen… Where in the world could it be? Eee hee! Better get going, don't you think? Don't blame me for your world's fate if you don't hurry up and find that light!"**

The seven beasts growled in annoyance as Midna demanded: **"Come on! Snap to it!"**

They found the entrance to the spring up ahead, but before they could get in there, the same black pillars fell and their way was blocked by the invisible wall again.

"What?! Again?!" Sonic groaned.

The portal with red markings appeared in the sky, but instead of one, three Twilit Messengers dropped down.

"Three against seven? Too easy!" Sonic grinned.

However, his confidence went too far, because when they tried to take out each of them individually, the Messenger that remained standing unleashed a mighty roar that paralyzed the group and revived the two knocked down Messengers.

"What the hell?!" Sonic stuttered.

Midna then scolded:

" **What's the holdup? If you leave the last one alive, it's just going to use that shriek to bring the others back. So you'll have to take them down at the same time!"**

"Right. Let's split up and each takes each guy down!" Sonic assured.

Link, Yoshi and Rosalina took the first Messenger down, and as Sonic saw Mario, Luigi and Peach almost taking down the other Messenger, he prepares to strike the last Messenger of his choice.

"Wait for it…" Sonic gets ready to punch the Messenger.

Immediately, Sonic defeated the last Messenger just as Mario, Luigi and Peach defeated the second one. The three Messengers exploded into twilight chunks and they flew up in the sky creating another Twilight Portal.

With that done, they continued to the Faron Spring, where they caught sight of a glimmer of light shimmering dimly in the center. They approached it until they were able to hear the faint voice of the light spirit:

"… _Please…be careful… These woods…have changed… The dark clouds of dusk cover this land… This drape of shadow is called…twilight. In this twilight, those who live in the light…become as mere spirits… It is a place…where the dark ones and evil creatures dwell…I…am a spirit…of light… Blue-eyed beast…Twin Knights…Trusty Steed…Princesses of Destiny…Swift One… Look…for my light… Retrieve the light stolen by the dark beasts…and keep it…in this vessel."_

The light spirit summons the Vessel of Light and hands it to the group. Sonic then noticed a strange change in the map and opens it, and saw 12 glowing small dots of light printed on it in different locations. The light spirit continues to speak weakly:

" _In the shadows of twilight…the dark insects are as…invisible…as normal beings are here… Let me use the last of my power…to reveal the locations of the dark insects…that consumed the light… Find…the insects of darkness… The dark insects… They are the form taken by evil…once it has latched on to…our scattered light…"_

The seven examined the map.

" _ **At least we won't have to go that far to hunt those bugs."**_ Yoshi said.

" _ **But finding them is not going to be easy…"**_ Rosalina warned.

Sonic then puts away the map and spoke to the wolves:

"All right, we should split up, since those woods are vast. Link, Yoshi and Mario, you'll search all the way to the north while I, Luigi, Peach and Rosalina will search this part of the woods." Sonic assured.

The wolves nodded and split up to search for the insects.

* * *

Down to the path leading to the branching road, the team of four found the very first two Twilit Parasites. Luigi and Peach defeated both of them by using their senses, causing the Parasites to explode into Tears of Light. They collected and keep them into their inventory. Sonic opened the map and noticed that the first two dots were gone, which means every time they defeat a Parasite, the dots corresponding to the location they've been found disappears.

After taking out Twilit Babas in the way, they headed to Coro's cabin, because there were two Parasites located inside his cabin. The three wolves dug their way inside while Sonic waited for them. At the inside of the cabin, Luigi, Peach and Rosalina spotted Coro's spirit and listened to him:

"Wh-What's with these bugs? Those things aren't normal! They're so big… So weird… So creepy… C'mon, get away, bugs… Shoo… Get out of here…"

Eventually, the Parasites came out of hiding, giving a chance for Peach and Rosalina to defeat them. This left Coro puzzled.

"Wh-WHAAT? They just…died? Oh, boy, I have NO idea what's going on around here…"

The three wolves left the cabin and met up with Sonic.

"Well, that's all for the bugs in this area. Now we have to wait for the others to get the rest." Sonic said.

With Link, Mario and Yoshi, they found and defeated the very first Parasite for them by just digging under the gate leading to the North Faron Woods. They crossed the cave, defeating Twilit Keese and Twilit Babas and emerged out of the dark cave.

However, the wide, opened area of the woods was all covered with poisoned purple mist. They had to use Midna's help to leap over the tree trunks and found five more Twilit Parasites in this area; one at the beginning, two at a large tree trunk and the other two at the other side of the mist.

When they reached North Faron Woods, they were attacked by more Twilit Messengers. They defeat them, creating another available portal.

" _ **There's only two Parasites remaining, I wonder where the rest are?"**_ Link wondered.

" _ **Worse, the only one who has the map is Sonic. And he's with my brother and the princesses…"**_ Mario sighed, which came out as a snort.

" _ **How about you both search around here while I search up ahead."**_ Yoshi suggested.

" _ **Sounds like a good idea. But be careful, Yoshi."**_ Link warned.

While Mario and Link searched around this part of the area, Yoshi went all the way to the path leading to the Forest Temple. There, he found the last two Parasites circling around the monkey's spirit, who was shaking in fear. Yoshi quickly took out the last two Parasites to calm the monkey down.

" _ **Someone… Someone helped me?"**_ the female monkey puzzled. _**"Boy, lucky for me… Ever since the boss went funny in the head, there've been scary monsters everywhere… Those village kids and those visitors got led through the woods for some reason… The whole forest is so weird now… What's happened?"**_

* * *

Shortly after the defeat of the final Twilit Parasites, the whole group was back at the spring and watched the Vessel of Light full of tears plunge into the center of the spring. Eventually, the twilight faded away and light was restored back to the Faron Province.

" **Aww, but it was so nice here in the twilight… What's so great about a world of light, anyway?"** Midna scoffed, back as a shadow. **"Eee hee hee! See you later!"**

Once Midna vanished from sight, the spring turns golden and glowed so bright that it evolved the group of seven as they felt some pain, but also warmth in their bodies, but because of the glow, they didn't know what was going on. The same situation occurred at the same time; a drop jumped up and splashed into the spring, a ball of light emerged out and the light spirit's body was materializing. This time, the spirit took the form of a monkey with a large tail.

" _My name is Faron."_ The light spirit named Faron spoke. _"I am one of the spirits of light who dwell in Hyrule. By the order of the gods, I protect this forest. O brave youths… In the land covered in twilight, where people roam as spirits, you were transformed into wolves, while the Swift One was transformed into a werewolf… That was a sign… It was a sign that the powers of the chosen ones rest within you…and that they are awakening. Blue-eyed beast… Look at your awakened form…"_

The seven looked at each other and gave silent gasps; they were all back to normal! But what was surprising was the new outfit that Link was wearing: he was wearing a green tunic with chain mail underneath, a green long cap adorning his head, a white shirt underneath, fingerless gauntlets, cream colored thighs and brown boots. The Ordon Shield and Sword were resting on his back.

" _The green tunic that is your garb once belonged to the ancient hero chosen by the gods… And, Swift One… The reason why you transformed into a werewolf was a different sign… A sign that you held your ancestor's power within you… Both their powers are yours. Theirs are the true power that slept within you. For the ones beside you, you five serve as one of the keys to shatter the walls of twilight. That power was entrusted to you by the gods who were watching you the whole time. They have witnessed your valor and have chosen you to aid Hyrule in its time of need."_

" _So that's why we were all sent here… It all makes sense now!_ " Sonic said in his thoughts.

" _Your names are Link, Sonic, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and Rosalina. Together, you are the heroes chosen by the gods."_

This left everyone in shock. Link never realized that he held the blood of the New Hero of Time and that Sonic was the descendent of the blue hedgehog that helped the hero save the land. This also left Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and Rosalina astonished by that and they've never expected that they had been handpicked for this endeavor.

" _Brave youths… A dark power and a chaos power rest in the temple deep within these woods. They are forbidden powers. Long, long ago, I and the other spirits of light locked the dark power away, while the chaos power was kept with the Swift One's ancestor. Because of its nature, this dark power should never be touched by any who dwell in the light, while the chaos power cannot be handled by anyone from this land. But this world weeps beneath a mantle of shadows, and so there is no choice… You must match the power of the king of shadows. If you would seek these forbidden powers, then proceed to the temple in the forest depths."_

Like Ordona, Faron vanishes. Midna appeared from Link's shadow and spoke:

" **Well, well… You're the chosen heroes and all that, huh? So THAT'S why you turned into beasts! What a shame… I mean, maybe you'd rather just wander as spirits like the rest of them, totally unaware of what was happening for all eternity…right? Eee hee hee! So… What do you want to do? Do you want to head to that temple? Well, isn't that convenient! I was about to head there myself."**

"Sure you were…" Sonic rolled his eyes.

" **Hey, look… You want to help your friends, right? The way I see it, maybe they're in that temple, waiting for you to rescue them… Well, good luck, Misters and Misses Important Heroes!"** she then returned into Link's shadow.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **So the adventure finally begins for our heroes! See you in the next chapter! Please review.  
**


	6. The Forest Temple

**Phew! Finally done with this chapter!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The Forest Temple**

The group was making their way to the North Faron Woods where the temple was located, feeling relieved that they were back from their beast forms.

"Finally! We can speak again!" Yoshi cheered.

"Yeah, it felt weird seeing you guys making snorting and whining noises." Sonic replied.

"I knew he would say that…" Luigi sighed.

"But now we have an important task; we must head to the Forest Temple, but where could the entrance be located?" Link wondered.

"I think I've seen an entrance blocked by a cobweb at the very end of the woods when I was hunting for the insects. Maybe that's the entrance?" Yoshi guessed.

"You could be right, Yoshi. Since the way to the deep part of the woods is blocked, we must ask Coro to let us in." Link directed to Coro's cabin.

They went to where Coro was, and he gave them the key to the closed gate plus a bottle of Oil for Link's Lantern. They unlocked the gate, ventured through the cave fighting the same enemies from last time and eventually arrived at the area that was still covered with poisonous mist.

"What? The mist is still there?!" Mario was surprised that the mist didn't disappear.

"What do you mean by that?" Luigi asked.

"When I, Link and Yoshi were searching for those insects in this area, we saw that this whole part of the woods became covered with this poisonous mist. Strange that it didn't fade away." Mario explained.

"So, how do we get across this mist?" Peach asked.

"Last time when we were still wolves, we leapt over the fallen trees that were sticking out. But now, we'll have to find another way to get across." Link said.

"Why don't we try using our lanterns?" Yoshi suggested.

Everyone thought it was a good idea and they took out their lanterns and began to walk forward towards the mist.

"Let's hope it will work…" Peach hoped.

Just then, a monkey noise was heard and to everyone's surprise, the same female monkey from before came out of nowhere and snatched Link's lantern using a long branch right before their eyes!

"HEY!" Link shouted. "My lantern!"

"Isn't she the same monkey that we've saved?" Yoshi thought.

They watched the monkey head towards the wooden plank and wave the branch holding the lantern in circles, which caused part of the mist nearby to scatter. She then turned around at the heroes and gestured them to follow her.

"Do you know what's she saying, Yoshi?" Peach asked.

"I think she wants us to follow her." Yoshi answered.

"Hmm, now I get it; the mist can't handle the light, and since it's dark and dim here, the mist was able to grow unprovoked." Link concluded.

"So that means we should follow the monkey. And let's get our lanterns out to create a more open area around us." Rosalina demanded.

Everyone agreed. They began to follow the monkey while defeating Deku Babas and Keese so that the monkey wouldn't get scared. Link cut some grass to clear up the path for them. Once they've reached the other side, the monkey dropped Link's lantern and went up ahead. Link picked up his dropped lantern and noticed that it ran out of oil. He took out the bottle of oil and poured it into the lantern until it was lit again.

They went towards the gate leading to North Faron Woods. There, they fought a pair of Bokoblins. Upon their defeat, Yoshi then caught a glimpse of something that looked like a wooden bridge leaning against the left side of the wall.

"Mario, what's that thing leaned on the wall?" Yoshi asked his best buddy.

"I think it's supposed to be a bridge, Yoshi. Maybe it could serve as something useful later on." Mario responded as he leaves with the group. Yoshi follows along.

Then, before entering the path leading to the large tree up ahead, there was a golden wolf and a silver werewolf standing by. Link drew his sword and shield and the rest got in a fighting stance as both beasts snarled at them.

However, the golden wolf leapt on Link while the silver werewolf leapt on Sonic only. The rest of the gang watched both the beasts and Link and Sonic fade away.

"Link?! Sonic?!" Peach was shocked.

* * *

Link and Sonic found themselves in a strange, snowy realm with a strong blizzard blowing in their faces as they regain consciousness and looked around.

"What the…?" Link was speechless.

"Where are we?" Sonic questioned.

Soon, they felt that something was threatening from behind them; the golden wolf had turned into a ghostly skeletal man wearing a rusted golden armor and carrying a sword and a shield, while the silver werewolf turned into a ghostly anthropomorphic hedgehog half skeletal with dark-blue fur and pale skin, wearing white gloves and red sneakers that looked similar to Sonic's, only that they were torn apart.

Both ghostly beings stood in an attacking stance. Link tried to attack the skeletal man, only to get knocked back from that man's sword. The same thing occurred for Sonic, when the ghostly hedgehog countered his Homing Attack.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage." The skeletal man spoke.

"And a true Mobian hero must know the right strategies before launching an attack." The skeletal hedgehog added.

As both heroes got up, Sonic asked the specters:

"Okay…just who are you, guys?"

"We are known as the Heroes' Shade." The hedgehog specter answered.

"You may be destined to become one of the heroes of legend…but your current power would disgrace the proud green of the hero's tunic you wear and the super speed you possess." The human Hero's Shade said.

Both Link and Sonic narrowed their eyes filled with determination to prove both specters wrong.

"Then…what must we do? Strength our powers?" Sonic asked.

Seeing the sapphire hedgehog and the young man's determination, the hedgehog Hero's Shade responded:

"You must use your courage and knowledge to seek power…and find it you must. Only then will you become one of the heroes for whom this world despairs."

"If you do find true courage and knowledge, and you wish to save Hyrule from the horrors it now faces… Then you will be worthy to receive the secrets we hold!" the human Hero's Shade finished.

The four beings, standing a few feet away from each other, faced the other as both specters began the lessons:

"Enemies that are filled with energy will quickly recover and attack again, even when stunned by a powerful strike. The Ending Blow and the Double Spin are secret techniques you can use on stunned enemies to end their breath before they spring back into action."

"For the Ending Blow, just leap into the air and deliver a final strike, aiming for its heart." The human Hero's Shade explained.

"And for the Double Spin, just curl into a ball and spin over the lying enemy. The best opportunity for you to do this is for you to grab the enemy, throw it to the ground and spin directly onto it." The hedgehog Hero's Shade explained.

"Now, try them on us!" both Heroes' Shade said.

The two warriors crossed their swords and the two hedgehogs clenched their fists while standing in their fighting stances. With swift movements, Link used his strength to send his own version of the specter flying onto his back, taking the opportunity to plunge his sword into where the specter's heart was.

Sonic, using his speed, quickly grabbed hold of his specter by the upper torso, and threw him to the ground and immediately curled into a spiky ball and spins onto the specter's torso.

Upon executing their moves, Link and Sonic jumped backwards, allowing both Heroes' Shade to stand up.

"Hmm. Those were pinpoint strikes. Never overlook your opportunities to finish the enemy." The hedgehog Hero's Shade spoke.

"The first hidden skills, the Ending Blow and the Double Spin, have been passed on!" the human Hero's Shade announced.

With smiles of victory, Link made swift movements with his sword before sheeting it into its scabbard while Sonic did the same victory animation from _Sonic 06_.

"But there are still six more hidden skills for each of you to learn." The hedgehog Hero's Shade said.

"Those are only for the ones who carry the blood of the hero and the hedgehog…the ones whose spirits are those of the sublime beasts." The human Hero's Shade said. "Grow powerful. Test your courage and knowledge. And when you find that you need another skill to overcome the threats that face you… Search for the statues that howl with the sound of the wind. Seek the sound that calls to the spirits of the beasts to awaken us again."

Both heroes nodded.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. And a true Mobian hero must know the strategies before launching an attack. Remember those words… Farewell!" the hedgehog Hero's Shade finished before everything gets engulfed in the white light.

* * *

When Link and Sonic woke up, they were greeted by Mario and Co.

"Oh, thank god!" Peach sighed in relief.

Standing up, rubbing their heads, Link and Sonic explained everything that happened to them to the crew. They were astonished by what they said.

"So you met two mysterious specters who taught you both new techniques?" Luigi questioned.

"Yes, and they said that they could be summoned again if we find statues that howls with the wind." Sonic added.

"That sure felt weird, but let's focus on the most important part now; we must head into the Forest Temple." Link said.

With that said, they walked on the winding path where a wall blocked by a cobweb was at the end. Link used his lantern to burn the cobweb, and finally, they headed into the Forest Temple.

* * *

The Forest Temple was once a single sprout from thousands of years ago, now fully grown into a large tree. Because that tree's tribe was nowhere to be seen, it was left in ruins and vegetation took over. The tree's interior was similar to the previous Great Tree's, except that the doors had the tribe mentioned earlier's symbol carved on them. As they entered it, they found themselves inside a dark corridor.

"It sure is dark here…" Peach said in a quiet voice.

"Uh oh… I can hear screeching noises!" Sonic's ears twitched.

There was a flock of Keese at their front. They defeated them, and they used their lanterns to light their way. Once they got out of the dark corridor, they were now inside a chamber with four totem poles, vines everywhere, Bokoblins and Walltulas.

"Never did like spiders." Sonic commented.

"These are Walltulas, spider enemies that attacks anybody who gets too close to them, so we need to use projectiles to take them down." Link said as he shoots a Deku Nut at one of the Walltulas with his Slingshot to take it down.

Yoshi swallowed a nearby Bokoblin to eject an egg and threw it at the other Walltula.

"I guess that's why spiders cannot eat their own eggs." Sonic joked.

"That was a good one, Sonic." Yoshi snickered.

"Let's take down the Deku Babas next!" Link directed them to the Deku Babas.

Upon defeating them, the heroes spotted the same monkey from earlier trapped inside a wooden cage. Link slashed the cage's bars with his sword to free the monkey. The female monkey clapped her hands in joy and began leading the heroes to a door up above the vines. Link sligshooted the two Walltulas on the vines before him and the gang climbed on them. They moved on to the next room.

The next room was the Crossroads Hub. At the middle, they encountered a giant frightening spider called a Skulltula.

"Yuck!" Peach grossed out.

"That's a full-grown Walltula! A Skulltula!" Link warned as he charges after the Skulltula and defeats it.

Link then caught a glimpse of the unlit torches on the platform. He lit them all and a treasure chest shows up. Inside of it was the Dungeon Map. Link and the rest examined the map and looked at the doors.

"This Temple is very large indeed…" Sonic remarked.

"Yes. If we're going to find the powers that Faron mentioned to us, we should split up." Link suggested.

"Alright. I, Luigi and Sonic will take the right door, Peach, Rosalina and Yoshi will take the left, and Link will take the center one with the monkey." Mario directed each of his allies to a door.

They all nodded and headed out in each of their respective doors.

* * *

 _ **With Mario, Luigi and Sonic**_

The room on the right was pitch black. To not waste oil on their lanterns, Mario used his fire powers to create a fire orb on his palm to light the way. They found a bomb enemy called a Bombling. They attacked it, and it turns into a bomb that exploded the giant boulder blocking the way, revealing some pots on the other side.

However, one of the pots was moving. The trio had discovered a strange creature with a humanoid head and chicken body called Ooccoo. With that, they reached the Step-Stones Cavern, and once Sonic saw water on the bottom, his fear meter rose.

"Water. Why did it have to be water?" he complained.

"Don't worry, Sonic. If we make precise jumps, then we won't fall." Mario encouraged. "Plus, even if you fall, I'll be there to help you."

They were about to make to the platforms until a Deku Baba stopped them. They leapt the first segment of platforms and faced off against a hanging Skulltula. They noticed that this room had two doors, but one of them was locked.

"So, I think we should head to the unlocked door, right?" Luigi asked.

"That's right, there might be a key in that door." Sonic answered.

The room they went took them to the Wind Gorge, where there was a bridge that spins by the wind's blowing. They made it across to reach the Wind Bridge Crossroads, where they found the key. They returned to the Step-Stones Cavern and unlocked the other door.

They were at the Totem Pole Cage Room, where they found a trapped monkey on top of the totem pole. They had to fight a group of Bokoblins to free the monkey, in which they had to roll into the totem pole twice to cause the cage to crash on the floor. They exited the rooms with the monkey following them.

* * *

 _ **With Peach, Rosalina and Yoshi**_

The room on the left was called the Staircase Cavern, filled with Baba Serpents. After defeating them, the trio went up the stairs to find another door at the top.

That door led them to the Lair of Big Baba, where they spotted a monkey imprisoned behind a locked door. The key gets swallowed by the Big Baba, so the trio had to defeat it. Once they did, they unlocked the door to set the monkey free.

"That monkey is no doubt one of that female monkey's friends." Yoshi pointed out.

"But why are we rescuing these monkeys? Do we need them for something?" Peach wondered.

"Maybe. We should keep our eyes open." Rosalina assured.

Back at the Staircase Cavern, they found a hidden room that was blocked by a boulder (they had to use a Bombling to destroy it) called the Room of the Tile Worms, where parts of the floor hid Tile Worms who love to send anyone flying if he or she steps on them. This room also had an imprisoned monkey. They freed it, and decided to head all the way back to where Link was. Speaking of Link…

* * *

 _ **With Link**_

He was at another part of the Wind Gorge area with the female monkey at his side. The monkey began to cross the bridge by herself, when suddenly, a large monkey holding some sort of boomerang on his hand came by. He was readying his weapon, which startled the female monkey and she ran back, just in time when the ape threw the boomerang at the bridge's ropes, cutting them. The ape made an evil cackle as he turned his back at them and spanked his red posterior before heading back into the door he came from.

Seeing this, Link became irritated; he really wanted to teach that rude monkey a mean lesson, but without the bridge, he couldn't get to the other side. Just then, the door behind him opened, revealing the rest of the crew, regrouped with three monkeys at their side.

"Oh, there you are. Did you find all of these monkeys by yourselves?" Link asked.

"Yep. We don't know exactly what are they used for, but-"

Sonic was cut out when the four monkey joined together and leapt on the bridge's rope, hanging upside-down and clapping their hands at the group. Link thought for a moment until he finally got it; he leaped off the ledge and the monkey on the front grabbed his hands. He made it to the other side like an acrobat actor and approached the door.

" _Now to teach that smart-ass ape some manners!_ " Link said in his thoughts as he goes to the door and begins to open it.

"Link! Wait for us!" Peach called as she and the rest was trying to catch up to Link, but too late; he already opened the door and as soon as he entered it, it shut tight. "Link? Link!" she called from the door, but no response.

Luigi tried to open the door, but it didn't move an inch. "The door…it won't open!"

"What?!" everyone gasped in shock.

* * *

On the other side, Link was searching for the ape, where he noticed that the door shut tight for him too.

He heard a familiar ooking sound. He noticed the same ape from before standing on one of the totem poles; the one in the middle of the circle of totem poles. The ape, named Ook, rose his arm and threw the boomerang and it traveled at the ceiling, cutting down two Baba Serpents, who began to slither towards Link as Ook spanked his posterior again.

Already annoyed, Link took out his sword and shield and quickly defeated the Serpents. Ook began to jump from pole to pole and cut down more of the Serpents. Link quickly took out those Serpents and entered the circle of poles.

When Ook noticed that the young man was closer, he rose his boomerang and threw it, attempting to hit the warrior. Link dodged it and took the opportunity to roll into the pole that Ook was standing on, causing him to lose his balance and not paying attention to the boomerang coming back to him, in which he was hit and knocked down by it.

" _Time to finish this!_ " Link said in his thoughts, ready to beat the ape down.

He ran around Ook and attacked his red posterior by swiping his sword. Wincing in pain, Ook hopped, holding his posterior, not paying attention to where he was going, and hit his head into the nearby pole. With that, a strange insect fell out of his head and exploded.

Ook slowly recovers, placing a hand on his head, looking all confused.

"Uh…what?" Link raised an eyebrow.

But Ook, hearing Link's voice, suddenly paralyzed, tensed up, and slowly turned his head. Once he caught glimpse of the Hylian, he jumped in fright towards one of the poles and ran out through a small opening in the wall above.

"Just what was that about?" Link questioned to himself. He was starting to wonder: was that ape possessed by that insect?

His thoughts were interrupted when he caught glimpse of the boomerang that Ook was using lying on the ground; it was now glowing in pure white. Link was about to approach it, when suddenly, the boomerang spun in the air by itself, and a voice spoke to him:

" _I am the Fairy of Winds who resides in this boomerang. You have freed me from evil, and I now have my true power back. Please… Take it with you, use it to aid your quest, and may both my power and my blessing go with you. If you focus power in your boomerang before releasing it, it will unleash the power of wind, aiding you in unforeseen ways."_

The boomerang flew in a loop before landing on Link's hands. He now had the Gale Boomerang item in his possession. Then, Midna showed up.

" **I bet even the monkeys should be satisfied now. OK, let's continue combing this place. We already found something good, so let's keep searching places we haven't looked yet."** She then returned to Link's shadow.

With that, Link used the Gale Boomerang at the fan above the door to unlock it and opened it. At the other side, he was greeted by the rest of the gang. After explaining everything that happened, they all thought for a moment.

"So, you think that ape was possessed?" Yoshi asked.

"I guess so; he started to act differently than before long after the insect fell off his head." Link responded.

"Well, evil has already taken over this Temple, so it makes sense that this evil could possess anyone and cause mischief." Rosalina confirmed.

"You're right, Rosalina. Luckily, I've now have a new item that could help us get further into this Temple." Link said, showing the Gale Boomerang.

"I think I already know the very first place to use this; we've reached a room with a crossroads, where it had a fan bridge at the middle." Mario said.

"We also came into a Wind Gorge where it had two bridges that didn't spun in synchrony." Peach interfered.

"Good, let's check the closest one from here." Link said.

* * *

Some hours later, the group had found all of the monkeys and also located the Compass in a chest. They were now at the Step-Stones Cavern to obtain the Big Key to the boss of the Temple. Link had to use the Gale Boomerang at the fans in a zigzag pattern to open the gate holding the treasure chest with the Big Key.

Now at the Giant Forest Tree Charm, the monkeys joined up together to create a giant rope of monkeys to help the heroes get to the boss door. There, they nodded to each other and unlocked the door and entered it, getting ready to face what's up ahead.

* * *

They enter a large round chamber with a shallow pool of filthy purple water, which they assumed it was poisonous. The door shut tight behind them. They noticed Bomblings poking out of hollow logs.

Suddenly, the water begins to bubble, and two gigantic Baba heads roar out of the water, snapping and snarling at the heroes.

 _ **Twilit Parasite: Diababa**_

"What ARE those things?!" Luigi panicked.

"Those are giant Babas! I bet my Rupees that these bomb enemies would take them down!" Link said.

"How so—LOOK OUT!" Sonic shouted, noticing one of the Babas lunging towards them. They all dodged it in time.

"Hurry! Does anyone have a power that can bring things from afar and toss it at these Babas?" Link asked.

"I could use my tongue." Yoshi said. "WAH!" he almost got hit by another lunging Baba.

"Good! Now try it with me!" Link told him, throwing the Gale Boomerang at one of the Bomblings and sending it to one of the Babas, causing it to swallow it. Once it did, the bomb exploded into its mouth and it retreated inside the water.

Yoshi did the same with his tongue; he stuck his tongue into the other Bombling's head, and sent it into the other Baba's mouth. It retreated, and everything went silent.

"That's it?!" Sonic questioned quite angered.

But then, the hollow logs sunk into the water, causing the two Bomblings to retreat as another rumbling sound came in and the water boils while the room was shaking. From there, a massive snaking head, flanked by the giant Babas the heroes just defeated, emerges from the murk and roars in their faces, showing its only 'eye'.

That was no doubt the real body of Diababa.

"Shoot. And what's worse is that the Bomblings just retreated." Link growled.

"So, what do we do?" Yoshi asked.

But when the fight seemed hopeless, just then, Ook came into the room by a small opening at the wall above. Grabbing hold of a rope, he swung to the other side to bring out a Bombling.

"Aha! Just what we need!" Link exclaimed as he gets his Gale Boomerang ready.

He targets the Bombling that Ook was holding while swinging and Diababa's head. He throws the Boomerang, and it dragged the Bombling to explode on Diababa's head, causing it to collapse, exposing its 'eye'. Link wasted no time and sliced the plant monster's 'eye'.

Diababa roars in pain as it moves its head around in defeat. It then shrivels up into an emaciated tube before dropping its 'eye' into the ground. Diababa dries up and explodes into shards of twilight. At the same time, the 'eye' explodes into what looked like gem shards.

Both types of shards coalesce and became different things: the twilight ones became a piece of strange-looking armor, while the gem ones slowly turned green as they were coalescing, and became a diamond-shaped green gem that only Sonic recognized.

" _Hey! That green gem…!_ " Sonic gasped in his thoughts.

Both objects descended slowly. The armor piece floats above Link's hands while the green gem floats above Sonic's hands as they looked at both objects astonished. Midna then comes out of Link's shadow.

" **Eee hee hee! Well done! That's…what I was looking for. I don't know what this gem is, but that looks quite an interesting thing!"**

"That gem is an item from my world. It's called a Chaos Emerald. There are seven in total." Sonic explained.

"And…what's this thing, Midna?" Link asked.

Midna took the armor piece by using her hand-like hair, answering: **"That's a Fused Shadow. That and this Chaos Emerald are what the light spirit called dark and chaos powers… Do you remember what that spirit said? About how you had to match the power of the king of shadows? Could it really be so easy? Are those all there are to do it? Eee hee hee! There's a total of three Fused Shadows. And by what the blue boy said, there are seven Chaos Emeralds in total. I think the other light spirits have the rest… If you want to know exactly what Fused Shadows are… Well, maybe I'll tell you if you find the other two. I guess you'd better do your best to find them, huh? Eee hee hee!"**

She then keeps the Fused Shadow in her personal inventory as she continues:

" **So let's not waste any more time here when we could be looking for the other two and the other six of those emeralds…"**

She then creates a twilight portal in the ground and floats over it.

" **I'll get you all out of here."**

The group all wondered what the Fused Shadows are for. Except for Sonic, they all also wondered what those Chaos Emeralds are. They decided to get their answers later as they stepped into the portal, disintegrating into twilight shards.

* * *

They all reassembled themselves at the Faron Spring, where Faron began to speak to the seven heroes:

" _Heroic Link, Sonic, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and Rosalina… Do not think that Hyrule is now saved from the spread of twilight… Leave these woods and go to the east, where you will find the land protected by the spirit Eldin. There, Link, you will find those you seek… But know that these lands lie in twilight… They are now a dark realm covered by the clouds of dusk. If you set foot beyond the curtain of twilight, you will revert to your beast forms, so be prepared. Heroes chosen by the gods, leave these woods and go east, to the land of the spirit Eldin."_

As soon as Faron's voice fades, Midna reappears.

" **That's better. Searching should be much easier now. Eee hee! But… Of course, you feel the need to go help the other light spirits, don't you? Well, don't worry. When you turn into beasts again, I'll take good care of you. The first thing you need to do is find the land covered in twilight. Once you do, I'll help you out. Eee hee hee! See you later!"**

She goes back in Link's shadow. Filled with determination and aware of where to go next, the group of seven headed out of the woods, leaving the land of Faron and into the dusk covered land of Eldin.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Because the Hero's Shade IS the Hero of Time (New Hero of Time in my case), I decided to add a ghostly version of Sonic's ancestor too (I couldn't come up with a name for him, so I went with Hero's Shade too). Just like Link, Sonic will also learn Hidden Skills too.  
**

 **I didn't want to make the boss fights too long, so I made them get defeated by just one hit. I also skipped some parts of the Forest Temple too.**

 **And of course, if Sonic is here and the Chaos Emeralds showed up on my friend's story, obviously they would reappear in mines! But a third type of collectible will show up once the heroes beat Goron Mines.**

 **This is going to be the only chapter for today. I'm now going to spent Christmas Eve with my dad's family in my grandmother's apartment. So see you later and Merry Christmas! ;D Please review.**


	7. The Eldin Province

**Phew! Finally I'm done with this chapter! Sorry for the long wait; I had a lot of family meetings and I had to rest my hands for writing too much.**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Eldin Province**

With the first Fused Shadow and Chaos Emerald in their possession, the seven heroes examined the map; according to the light spirit Faron, the next light spirit, Fused Shadow and Chaos Emerald were to the west, at the Eldin Province.

"I remember that this province has a village called Kakariko Village, but since this province is covered in twilight, this place won't be that peaceful." Link said.

"So, where do we go from here?" Peach asked.

"We must traverse the Hyrule Field of the south and head west from there." Link answered.

"Alright, lead the way." Sonic said.

* * *

They left Faron Woods and into South Hyrule Field. There, they saw that the eastern, western and northern parts of the kingdom were still engulfed in domes of twilight.

"Whoa…looks like we've got our work cut out here." Sonic exclaimed.

"What do you mean by that?" Link asked.

"Sonic likes to just speed around, but it looks like this has been limited thanks to the twilight." Rosalina explained.

"Yeah, so that means we'll have to head to the west in a much slower pace." Sonic added.

"You'll have to since I can't run that fast, but don't worry; it won't be that far away." Link said.

They made towards the west while fighting some enemies scattered around the open field. As they were approaching the limits of the Faron Province where the wall of twilight was, the sky began to turn into dusk. Midna appeared from Link's shadow.

" **Hey, it was much closer than I thought…"** she spoke. **"You all remember, right? You know what this is? If you set foot in there, you might be beasts again for quite some time… For at least as long as it takes for you to save the light of Eldin from the twilight, anyway… So, shall we try to go see the light spirit of Eldin? Eee hee!"**

They approached the large wall of twilight, and once they were close enough, Link told them:

"Well, are you all ready to become beasts again? Because if we set foot in there, there's no turning back."

Everyone nodded in response. With that, Midna entered through the wall and in a matter of seconds, she extended her hair again and grabbed everyone, pulling them into the twilight.

* * *

On the other side of the wall, the heroes were lying on the ground. Once they all got up, due to the twilight covering this province, they immediately shifted back into their beast forms. Midna appeared on Link's back just like last time.

" **That's a good boy! Now, you need to listen to what I say from now on!"** she said. **"Ahh, look! How lovely! The black clouds of twilight are so fetching today… I feel so much more at ease here…"**

" _Only for YOU, of course…_ " Sonic said in his thoughts.

" **And you all look so much better like this than in those dusty old clothes, anyway. Eee hee!"** Midna giggled.

" _ **Are you kidding me?!"**_ Mario growled, which came out as a silent snarl.

" **So, let's get going! We haven't got all day!"** Midna demanded.

Still looking rather annoyed by Midna's words (especially Sonic), they all ran on ahead. After a mile and a half of running, Sonic spotted something carved into the ground up ahead.

"What's that?" he questioned.

The six wolves heard Sonic's questioning and they went to the direction he was pointing; there was something resembling a broken wooden branch. When they got closer, Link then recognized the object:

" _ **That's the Wooden Sword I let Talo use!"**_

" _ **A wooden sword? But what's it doing here?"**_ Luigi asked.

" _ **Wait… I can see something really faded on the sword."**_ Rosalina said as her ears perked up.

" _ **And what is it, Rosie?"**_ Peach asked.

" _ **I don't know, but we should try to use our canine senses to see it better."**_ Rosalina suggested.

" _ **Good idea, let's try it."**_ Link nodded in agreement.

The six canine heroes used their senses and what they saw on the sword was a small yellow…smoke cloud?

" _ **Eh? What's that?"**_ Yoshi asked.

" _ **Some cloud of yellow smoke?"**_ Mario guessed.

" _ **Hold on, I can sense some sort of familiar smell on this cloud… Perhaps we should try to sniff it."**_ Link said.

" _ **Why sniff it?"**_ Peach asked.

" _ **Because dogs have higher senses than humans, so we can see scents that are invisible to the naked eye."**_ Link explained.

" _ **Oh, that makes sense. Well, let's sniff it."**_ Yoshi said.

Sonic watched the six wolves sniff the wooden sword. Suddenly, shortly after sniffing, Link caught a vision of Talo, Malo, Beth and Colin. The wolves have learned the Youths' Scent. Soon, they saw a trail of yellow smoke going up ahead and began to follow.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Sonic called for them. Midna heard him and told:

" **Oh, they're just tracking the scent they've just learned."**

Sonic still didn't understand what she meant, but he had no choice but to follow the six wolves. He noticed that they were running towards a canyon. However, their path got blocked when the Twilit Messengers showed up again.

"Not again!" Sonic growled.

The seven beasts once again disposed of them, and they created another portal in the sky. Just then, they all noticed that there was no bridge up ahead.

" **What's this?! That's strange… The bridge is gone…"** Midna said stunned.

"I wonder if this is the work of those shadow creatures… Ugh… What a pain!" Sonic grumbled.

Just then, Yoshi remembered the unusual bridge he and Mario had found near the Forest Temple. Could that be the bridge of this region?

" **Ah well, let's look for it… You! Get your map out!"** Midna told Sonic.

Sonic took out the map and everyone noticed the blue portal things that showed up on certain parts of the map.

" **Whenever you destroy those creatures from the darkness, a portal opens that looks like these symbols on the map."** Midna explained. **"Now just point to the location you want to go, and I'll use my power to take you there."**

Yoshi got close to the map and pointed with his paw at the North Faron Woods area. Midna then used the power of the portal they just opened and disintegrated with Yoshi.

Soon, after Yoshi reappeared in the North Faron Woods area, he noticed he was facing the upright bridge again. He heads to it and Midna came in:

" **Wow! It's perfect, don't you think? What do you think? Should we take it?"** Yoshi nodded in response. **"Good little obedient wolf!"**

Yoshi watched Midna float towards the bridge and cast an orange spark on it. She then hunched over and growled, like if she was trying to lift something heavy, and screams as she rose her hair and her arms to the air. Eventually, the bridge began to quake before levitating from the ground and disintegrating into the portal alongside Yoshi.

Back at Kakariko Gorge, the remaining beasts watched the bridge piece that was missing forming into existence as it was placed gently back onto its original spot over the gorge. Yoshi reappeared over the center of the bridge as the gang rushed to him.

" _ **Yoshi! What just happened?"**_ Peach asked.

" _ **I just went back in Faron Woods with Midna's power to retrieve the missing bridge I and Mario just spotted before we entered the Forest Temple."**_ Yoshi explained.

" _ **Oh yeah, I remember! I guess I was right after all."**_ Mario said.

" _ **Right about what?"**_ Luigi asked.

" _ **That we would need that for something useful later on."**_ Mario answered.

 _ **"Oh."**_

Then, Midna once again landed on Link's back and spoke:

" **See! Just as I thought… Eee hee! So, isn't the power of twilight amazing? Call me if you need the power again. It should help you find what we're looking for, don't you think? All right! Let's keep going!"**

Without any word, the seven beasts continued to follow the scent. The scent went on westward until an iron gate that was shut tight blocked their way. Link, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and Rosalina found a nearby digging spot and dug their way in while Sonic climbs over the gate.

* * *

The path took them to a village nestled at the bottom of a canyon with the spring on the left, with its buildings made of stone built to the walls of the canyon. As the group came in, Link frowned at what he was seeing.

" _ **What's wrong, Link?"**_ Peach asked in concern.

" _ **This place… Is Kakariko Village."**_ Link answered.

" _ **What?! Oh, no…"**_ Luigi whimpered like a dog.

" _ **It's now covered in twilight…"**_ Rosalina lamented.

" _ **Hmm? Hey, look! I can see a dim light at that pool of water! It must be the spring!"**_ Yoshi exclaimed, which came out as a happy-sounding bark directing to the spring.

Unfortunately, more Twilit Messengers ambushed them again.

"Man, don't these things ever quit?!" Sonic complained as he and the wolves were fighting the Messengers.

Once they were all defeated, another Twilight Portal formed into the sky. Soon, they heard the light spirit's lamentation in the sounds of moans:

" _To the heroes…who were transformed into beasts…in the realm of shadows… In twilight…This way…"_

They approached the spring where the dim light was, and the light spirit spoke to them weakly:

"… _I am…a spirit…of light… Heroes…chosen by the gods… Look for…my light… Gather the light stolen by the shadows…into this…"_

The spirit hands them a Vessel of Light, and marks the Tears of Light's locations on their map as he continues:

"… _The insects of darkness… They are the form taken…by the evil that attached itself…to my scattered light… In this shadowy twilight…the shadow insects are invisible, much as the people from your light world are... With the last of my power…let me mark your map…with the locations…of the tears that have turned into…shadow insects… But…be careful… The darkness…now hunts you…"_

There were several Twilit Parasites scattered around Kakariko Village and Death Mountain. The group of beasts decided to split up once again. Since Sonic couldn't understand them, the wolves let him tell them how they would split up:

"Alright, let's split up again to find the Tears. Link, Mario, Luigi and Yoshi will search in the Village, while I and the girls will search in the mountains."

Everyone nodded and Sonic, Peach and Rosalina raced to Death Mountain. Link, Yoshi and the Mario Bros stayed in Kakariko Village.

" _ **Guys, I can see that the scent trail ends up inside this house. I'll go check there, then head to the mountains while you all search around the village."**_ Link told them.

" _ **But, why?"**_ Yoshi asked.

" _ **Because I'm getting a feeling that Sonic and the girls won't make further into Death Mountain by themselves. And yes, Death Mountain is that mountain's name."**_

" _ **Death Mountain?! I did not like the sound of that… Not so good for morale when the name of a place begins with 'death'…"**_ Luigi sweat-dropped.

" _ **Do not worry, Bro. Since we will be searching in the village, there's nothing to worry about now."**_ Mario said.

" _ **Okay, then. I'm going to find a way in this house. Good luck in your search here."**_ Link assured.

" _ **You're welcome. Let's go, guys."**_ Mario directed his brother and best buddy to the north part of the village.

Link stood up on a wooden cart nearby, and Midna told him:

" **Hey, you can climb up here!"**

He then reached the top of the house, where there was a pile of loose boards. As soon as he stood on the pile, it crashes and he falls through a hole.

* * *

He was inside the house, where there were lots of spirits roaming around. He turned his senses on, and saw Beth, Malo, Talo and Colin sitting next to another girl and a tall man with long braided hair.

" _ **It's the Ordon children!"**_ Link exclaimed in surprise.

Since he already knew that they couldn't see him, he decides to listen to the conversation:

"Cripes! I don't see those black brutes anywhere…" another man that was looking at the window said. "They've gotta be hidin' somewhere, waitin' for their helpless little prey to come out! Then they'll FEAST!"

Talo began to get scared and held close to the shaman.

"We are safe as long as we remain in here, child. Be at ease." The shaman comforted Talo.

"Oh yeah? I wonder if the monsters out there agree with you…" the man replied sarcastically, lifting his iron mask. "They sure didn't seem impressed by my bombs! How long do you think we can hold this sanctuary against beasts that strong, huh? Once they attack, it's OVER!"

Talo was shrieking in fear again, holding on to the shaman. The man continues:

"Remember the lady from the general store? Just one of those things attacked her, and a whole gang from town went to save her! And what happened? She was already gone, and there were TWO monsters waitin'! You connectin' the dots? That means that if we get attacked by them, then we'll be…"

"BARNES!" the shaman yelled. The man, named Barnes, immediately stopped talking and scoffed.

Beth immediately began to sob, scared by the horrible story she just heard from Barnes. The shaman glared at Barnes. Barnes, feeling sniveling, slowly bends his knees sliding at the wall onto the ground while putting his iron mask back on.

"Look, Renado… All I mean to say is that it's risky here, too! Ain't you got some place we can hide?" Barnes asked.

"There is…a cellar." Renado responded.

Just after hearing this, Barnes quickly scuffled towards Renado and opening his mask again.

"WHAAT?! You've got a CELLAR?! Where's the entrance, man?" Barnes asked in concern, very shocked about the news.

"The entrance to the cellar is designed to open when all of the candles have been lit…" Renado explained.

Barnes lit up a torch and used it to light a pot next to the statue. Just as he was about to scuffle to one of the candles, the new girl stopped him:

"…I…would not do that."

This caused Barnes to trip and fall flat onto the ground. The girl continued:

"When Father instructed me to secure the cellar, I saw insects like the beasts outside…"

Barnes became horrified and scuffled backwards, with his mask falling onto his face. He holds on against the wall tightly.

"Don't cry, Beth! It'll be OK!" Colin tried to cheer up Beth by extending his arm to her, but she pushed it out of her way and turned away, still crying. "Link and his friends are coming to save us all!"

Then, everyone's attention went to Colin.

"…I can feel it!" Colin continued.

Link couldn't help but internally smile at the scene. Midna then spoke to him again, shifting his pride to annoyance:

" **These kids knew you'd come save them! What a hero! How sad, to be right in front of someone and not be noticed at all… Eee hee hee! You are chosen by the gods, and only that keeps you from turning into a spirit, or worse, into a dark monster, when you enter twilight. And no one knows what you have done… You may be doomed to toil in obscurity forever… You're the type to worry about everything, I can tell…but don't fret over Princess Zelda! She chose this state of affairs, after all… Anyway, what's with having to light candles to get to the basement?! Not very subtle, is it… So, what are you going to do now? My lonely little hero… Eee hee!"**

Ignoring Midna, Link went to the same stick that Barnes used to light the pot and picked it up. He lit both sides of the stick with fire, and used it to light the candles in this room arranged in a circle. Eventually, once all of the candles were lit, the statue in the middle moved to the side, revealing the entrance to the cellar.

"What sorcery is this?! The entrance to the cellar opening on its own… Could those beasts have engineered even this?" Link heard Renado speak.

Link just shook his head and went down the hole. Inside, he took down the first three Twilit Parasites. He got out and rushed towards Death Mountain.

* * *

 _ **With Mario, Luigi and Yoshi**_

They had split up to find the Parasites inside three different houses. Mario had found one of them inside the Elde Inn, the house on the left; the inside had Twilit Bulblins. He fought them, and lit the fireplace with a torch to make the Parasite to come out.

Luigi had found another one inside a building at the opposite side of the Elde Inn; he had to fall through a loose roof and push a crate to reveal the Parasite.

Once the brothers had found and defeated their chosen Parasites, they reunited with each other to find Yoshi.

Speaking of which, Yoshi had to break through the window of Barnes' Bomb Shop and head to the lookout part of the village at the very top of the shop. However, the Parasite that was standing right next to the bomb storage shack had fled to the inside of the storage.

" _ **Hey! Get back here!"**_ Yoshi shouted, which came out as a loud bark in which was heard by the Mario Bros. They watched Yoshi crawling inside the storage shack.

" _ **We better go after him; who knows what he might do there?"**_ Mario suggested.

" _ **You got a point there. Let's hurry."**_ Luigi said.

They went towards the storage and crawled inside in the same way Yoshi did.

However, once they arrived in there, they noticed that Yoshi had lit up the stove using a torch to force the three Parasites out, but their sparks made the whole shack catch on fire!

" _ **Huh?! Yoshi! What did you do?!"**_ Mario questioned in shock and anger at the same time, which came out as a very loud bark.

" _ **I didn't do anything! I was only trying to force the three insects out of the stove!"**_ Yoshi pleaded, which came out as an honest-sounding whine.

" _ **Whatever! Let's just hurry the heck out of here!"**_ Luigi panicked, which came out as a panicked-sounding bark.

The trio crawled back to the narrow tunnel where they just came in. As they hurried out of the shack, they watched it become engulfed in flames as the stored bombs began to explode one followed by another, which caused the whole shack to blow up, alongside the three Parasites that were still flying around the shack, becoming Tears of Light.

" _ **That was a close one…"**_ Luigi sighed in relief, which came out as a relieved-sounding snort.

" _ **And it looks like the insects were defeated by the explosion."**_ Mario said, noticing the three Tears of Light hovering still.

" _ **Well, I had to sacrifice someone's house to find Tears of Light…but that's how the cookie crumbles, right?"**_ Yoshi spoke.

The trio went towards the Tears and collected them up. All of the Tears in Kakariko Village had been found. Now let's check the group that headed to Death Mountain.

* * *

 _ **At Death Mountain…**_

It was a long trip to reach Death Mountain, but Sonic, Peach and Rosalina had already found a dead end.

"Well, I should be able to get up there, but what about you?" Sonic questioned to the royal wolf ladies.

They had no idea either. Then, the trio heard noises coming from behind them; it was Link.

" _ **Link! Why did you come here?"**_ Peach asked.

" _ **I've had a feeling that you wouldn't make to the top by yourselves, since Death Mountain is a very dangerous place."**_ Link answered.

" _ **You actually came in just in time, because this large wall is blocking out path."**_ Rosalina directed to the large wall up ahead.

As Link approached the wall, Midna began to speak:

" **Looks like the path's impassible…but I can get you all up it if you want to go."**

Hearing that, Link, Peach and Rosalina used Midna's help to get up there, and waited for Sonic to climb up to where they were. They continued on to find the three remaining Parasites, passing by some Goron spirits, defeating Twilit enemies and avoiding scalding vents.

They also found a Howling Stone at a plateau. Link approached it and listened to the wind-blowing tune before copying its sounds by howling until he learned his first song: the Song of Healing. He encountered the golden wolf and the silver werewolf and they howled the song with Link.

" _Let teachings of old pass to you and the Swift One…"_ the golden wolf spoke.

" _Take sword and speed in hand and body and find us…"_ the silver werewolf finished before they both leaped to the Ordon Spring location.

Deciding to check out later, Link continued up the mountain with Sonic, Peach and Rosalina. As they listened to the Gorons, they noticed that these rock-eaters seemed to be into some sort of crisis of their own.

* * *

Soon, once all of the Tears of Light were collected, the Vessel of Light becomes full and flies into the spring, bringing light and brightness back at Eldin Province. The group had regained their original forms and then Midna reappeared as a shadow.

" **Aw, I was just starting to have fun! Don't forget that Fused Shadow! Eee hee hee! See you later!"**

Once she was gone, the spring's waters began to shine brightly as another drop of water bounced back into it. A light orb emerges out, and the light spirit takes the form of a giant bird.

" _My name is Eldin. I am one of the light spirits of Hyrule. I am the spirit that guards these lands. O great heroes chosen by the gods… The dark and chaos powers you seek lies in the sacred grounds of the proud mountain dwellers. But already those grounds have been defiled, draped in shadow and seeded with evil."_

The spirit Eldin pointed to the direction where Death Mountain was, more specifically, its crater. Eldin continues:

" _Aside from these powers, you will also find one of the seven sacred relics that we light spirits left out in this land. It is said that these relics are powerful enough to shatter the walls of darkness. They are made of pure light, so darkness cannot touch them. You must go to those sacred grounds and cleanse them."_

The light spirit fades away and the waters became clean again. The group started to walk away from the spring, until Link looked at his right and spotted the Ordon children standing at the opened door of the sanctuary.

"Link?!" Colin spoke.

But when Colin started to approach the group, Talo shoved him out of the way and was knocked to the ground and was passed by Beth and Malo. The children were ecstatic to see the Ranchman and his new friends at long last. The group smiled softly at the children.

"Ha ha ha! See, Beth?! I TOLD you Link and his friends would save us!" Talo exclaimed, unaware that Link knew that it was actually Colin who told the girl.

Despite that, Link smiled and looked at Colin, letting him know that it was alright to join in. Colin got up and joined in too. Then, Renado came in and asked the heroes:

"…You are the ones from Ordon whom these children spoke of?"

Link immediately nodded, but Sonic and Mario and his crew hesitated for a bit, since they aren't from this world. But they knew that everyone, neither Link would believe that they're from another world, so they had to nod too.

"We are well met. I am Renado, shaman of this town." Renado introduced himself with a smile. "And this…"

Barnes lifted his mask, thinking he was the one who would be introduced. However, Renado gestured to the young girl next to him:

"This is my daughter, Luda."

Seeing that he wouldn't be introduced, Barnes put his mask back on and scoffed, returning to his shop, unaware of the massive damage Yoshi has unintentionally caused at his bomb storage shack.

"The beasts took us and left us to die…but Mr. Renado found us." Colin spoke up.

"At first, I couldn't believe they had come from so distant a place as the Ordona Province…" Renado interfered.

"Yeah, I… We don't remember much. All of a sudden everyone was captured, and then…until now…it's been like…" Colin lamented.

"…A nightmare." Malo complemented.

"Yeah! It was like a terrible dream and we couldn't wake up…" Colin finished.

"Mmm… Nightmares are everywhere these days, it seems. This village has certainly seen its share of recent hardships…" Renado spoke out of his thoughts. He looked up towards Death Mountain. "The dark beasts attacked, but even worse was the sudden and inexplicable change in the mountain-dwelling Goron tribe. They had long been our friends, but suddenly treated us as foes. Even now they refuse to permit us entry into their mines. It strains the limits of belief… To think that such a gentle and proud tribe could change so suddenly… It makes me wonder if something in those mines is the cause of this change…"

With those words, the group of heroes looked at each other, and they shared the same thoughts:

" _Maybe that's where the Fused Shadow and Chaos Emerald are! That must be the cause like back in the forest!_ "

"In any case, you must take these children and flee this village before more nightmares descend." Renado said, turning to the heroes. "I, of course, cannot leave my village in such a time. There is no telling what may happen to us here… But it is my job to try to coax the Gorons back from their recent change of heart."

The children looked at the group, pondering on what to do. Link thought for a moment before he spoke:

"Renado, I think it's best to let the children stay in this village for a while. I know it's not the best idea for you, but even that, it would still take a while to get back to Ordon by foot."

"And in exchange, we would like to help you with the situation of the Gorons." Mario added.

Renado thought for a moment, and decided to agree with them.

"If you say so, it's my pleasure."

With that, the heroes thanked Renado, who agreed to watch over the children during their travels, and parted ways.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Our heroes are close of locating the second Fused Shadow and Chaos Emerald! But what about the sacred relic that the spirit Eldin mentioned? See you in the next chapter! Please review.  
**


	8. Horseback Battle

**Next chapter done!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Horseback Battle**

Previously, our group of heroes had restored light back to Eldin and they were now tasked to find another Fused Shadow and the Chaos Emerald, plus a mysterious sacred relic unknown to the heroes at the moment. They headed straight to Death Mountain and reached the same tall wall next to the entrance.

"Wait here, everyone. I'll go check what's up there by myself." Link said.

He climbs up the wall by the gratings on it. However, a Goron was at his reach.

"Ah! No humans allowed! These lands ahead belong to the Goron tribe! The elder said no humans may pass!" the Goron yelled.

Link watched the Goron curl his body and roll towards him. Link tried to grab him, like he does with the escaped goats back in his village, but the Goron was too strong, so eventually, Link was knocked back all the way down, startling the rest of the crew.

"A weak spirit is no match for the might of the Gorons! Do you understand me, human? Then away with you!" the Goron shouted from the edge and walked back.

"Link, are you okay?" Rosalina asked as she helps Link up.

"I'm fine…" Link groaned. "Well, looks like our path is blocked for now; that Goron will not let us pass. I suggest we retreat."

They decided to agree with Link and they all turned back and left the Mountain. Then, they meet Renado at the junction.

"Ah, how fortunate you are in one piece!" he spoke.

"Renado? What are you doing here?" Sonic asked.

"I saw you all heading up the mountain trail, so I was worried." Renado answered. "Are you trying to reach the Gorons of Death Mountain? It is far too dangerous! They recognize only strength! A normal person could never persuade them…"

"So, what shall we do now?" Peach asked in a worried tone.

"But…I do know one person who was able to best them and earn their trust… His name is Bo. You may know him as the mayor of Ordon. Please, go to him. And while you are there, please let him know that the children are safe. Give them my word." Renado requested.

The group immediately accepted and began to make their way towards the spring. But them, they heard sounds of gallops coming from the north. The group looked down the path and they noticed a frightened Epona being rode on by two Bulblins. Both Bulblins fell out of Epona as she runs inside the village, heading towards the group's direction.

"Uh oh! JUMP!" Link called as he and the rest of the gang jumped out of Epona's way to avoid being knocked down by her.

Unlike the rest, Link did a roll after jumping and noticed that Epona came to a stop; this was his chance to mount her! He hurries up to her and hops onto her back, only to receive a neigh from her while she stands on her hind legs, causing him to almost lose his balance. Epona panics and took off, with Link holding on her saddle for dear life.

"Link!" the group of six shouted horrified.

Link grabbed hold of Epona's saddle for as long as he could, until he finally got on to the saddle when Epona stopped and quickly grabbed the reigns.

"WOAH, EPONA! It's me!" Link called.

Soon, after hearing her master's voice, Epona calms down and neighed, standing on her hind legs. She headed to the spring to catch a drink. Link pets her as she drinks. The group jogged to the pair, being careful to not startle Epona.

"Link! You okay?" Yoshi asked.

"Yes." Link let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, Epona, you remember these guys, don't you?"

Epona looked at the six, and neighed in agreement.

"Good! Now that I have Epona back, I can travel much faster."

"I should be able to keep your pace with my speed." Sonic said.

"I could simply use my flight." Rosalina said.

"And I could mount Yoshi to go faster." Mario said.

"Guess I'll once again be your main steed!" Yoshi chirped.

"Unfortunately, I and Luigi don't have any ability to go faster, and there's only one room for Yoshi…" Peach pondered.

"You don't have to worry, Epona will let you climb on her." Link assured.

"Really? Wow, thanks Link." Luigi thanked.

"No problem."

With that, Luigi and Peach climbed on Epona, Mario mounted on Yoshi, Rosalina levitates and Sonic stretches his legs, ready to run.

"All right, everyone. Off to Ordon!" Link announced. "Hiyaah!"

Epona then took off, followed by Sonic, Yoshi and Rosalina, into Kakariko Gorge. They headed south, passing by Faron Woods. As soon as they reached the Ordon Province, Link galloped to the entrance to the spring and made Epona stop, which confused the gang.

"Link? Why are you stopping?" Luigi asked.

Link dismounted Epona as he answers:

"You all wait here, I and Sonic have something to take care of together. Come with me, Sonic."

"What? Why I and you?" he asked, still confused as they were entering the spring.

"Because…of that." Link pointed to the golden wolf and the silver werewolf standing on the left side of the spring.

"Oh."

With that said, Link and Sonic approached the ghostly beasts and the same thing from last time happened again; the pair vanished once the beasts jumped on them. But this made a bright glow show up, which was seen by Peach and Luigi.

"Sonic?! Link?!" Peach cried.

"I think it's that thing again." Luigi guessed.

* * *

Link and Sonic were once again in the same snowy realm. Once they got up, they spotted the two beasts standing by, and they both howled, transforming into the Heroes' Shade.

" _We meet again."_ The human Hero's Shade spoke.

" _You have a little more of the look of heroes than you did before… Do you feel ready to earn your next skills?"_ the hedgehog Hero's Shade asked.

Both heroes nodded in response. They first had to show both shades the skill from before, and then they'll be able to learn a new skill. The two skills that Link and Sonic had learned were the Shield Attack and the Horse Kick, both stunning moves. They could also be used to reflect projectiles.

" _But we have five more secrets to teach you…in time."_ The hedgehog Hero's Shade said.

" _The path to becoming the true heroes is a long one, but once you have grasped all of the hidden skills, you shall be worthy of walking it."_ The human Hero's Shade added.

" _You must persist on the lonely path of the sword and speed to obtain true courage and knowledge and earn the strength to conquer the great evils of the world!"_

" _Do not forget your disciplines with the blade and the wind before we meet again!"_

* * *

Soon, Link and Sonic were back into reality. They went back to their friends and proceeded to Ordon Village. There, they let the children's parents know that their kids were safe, and they all sighed in relief. The last person that they let him know was the mayor, Bo. The kind mayor let them inside his house to start a conversation:

"So, if the children are safe, tell me of my little girl! Ilia is with the rest of 'em, right?"

The whole group turned away in regret.

"Well, about that…" Sonic sighed.

"…we still haven't found her yet. Sorry, Mr. Bo." Peach lamented.

"…Oh! I see… That ain't what I wanted to hear…" Bo sighed. "I guess I need to think of all five of those poor kids, not just my own… They're all in danger. What I should be askin' is how I can help out…"

Placing that fact aside, Link informed Bo about the situation at Death Mountain.

"What's that, now? The Gorons of Death Mountain? I see… So Renado told you that… Well, it's true… I did defeat the Gorons in a contest of strength and earned their trust… With the help of a little secret."

"Little secret?" Link was intrigued.

"I CAN teach you the secret, Link…but can you promise me that you absolutely, positively will NOT disclose it to anyone, but your new friends?" Bo proposed.

Link nodded in approval.

"Good. All righty, then. Absolutely no one! Come this way."

Bo led them to a room with a circular platform in the middle with two lines dashed in the center, raised couple of feet off the ground. Bo started to speak again:

"Link, you've heard of sumo wrestling, right? Gorons like to match strength in sumo contests. Luckily for you, the basics of sumo are the same as stoppin' chargin' goats. The rules are simple; if you're gettin' in a sumo match, chances are you're an arena like this. The first fella to push his foe outside the arena wins. You can either grab a foe and push or an open-palm smack…"

* * *

A few minutes later, Link and Bo were in the arena, having a practice match. What was quite embarrassing for Link was that he had to remove his tunic, so now like Bo, Link was bare chested. As the rest of the heroes watched their match, Peach and Rosalina were trying their best to not blush at the shirtless Link.

Link managed to beat Bo at both rounds, even if in the second round Bo was being more serious. After the match, Bo and Link got dressed normally and they alongside the rest of the gang exited the arena.

* * *

"You've gotten a sight stronger in the short time you've been gone, Link… Strong as you are, though, you can't hope to beat the Gorons wrestlin' with power alone. Those Gorons are made of rocks!" Bo said. "Naw, the secret to beatin' the Gorons…is locked away in that chest. Take it with you, lad."

Link headed to the closed chest and opened it; inside was a pair of Iron Boots.

"Hmm, and for you, young lads, I have something that will help you traverse the mines beyond the Gorons' lair. Here it is." Bo then handed the group of six each a pair of metallic soles that had the same shape as their own shoes' soles. "I've looked hard on your feet to make these for you. They're called the Magnetic Soles. Put them on, and not only will you become heavy, but also able to stick to magnetic walls. And the mines are loaded with them."

"Nice! Thanks, Bo." Sonic thanked.

With the Iron Boots and the Magnetic Soles in their possession, the group headed back to Kakariko Village. But the scene was far from peaceful…

In the middle of the street, Talo and Beth were having a conversation, until they suddenly heard faint galloping sounds. The sounds got higher and higher, and when the pair looked behind them, a hoard of Bullbos with Bulblins riding them came in, alongside their leader, King Bulblin.

The children gasped in shock as the hoard was approaching them. Talo immediately ran off, but Beth was still standing there, looking all stunned. At the same time, Colin, who was looking after Malo, turned his head and saw the Bullbo hoard approaching Beth. He hesitated for a bit before finally deciding to act brave and rushed towards Beth, shoving her out of the way. However, Colin was caught by the Bulblins.

Barnes had heard a noise from outside, so he rushed out of his bomb shop to see the scenery. But he was startled when King Bulblin stopped in front of him, lifting his mask while staring at him. Frightened and stunned, Barnes slowly lowers his mask to hide his face.

Soon, a horse neigh was heard; it was from Epona. King Bulblin looked behind him to spot Epona, Yoshi, Sonic and Rosalina coming after him. The group of heroes were glaring furiously at King Bulblin, when they noticed that he was holding an unconscious Colin in his right hand and took off with the rest of his comrades. The heroes quickly chased after them, jumping over the closed gate to reach the eastern part of Hyrule Field.

There, they finally caught up to King Bulblin, but they were greeted by a horrific sight; they saw Colin tethered to the King's banner. King Bullin beckons them to fight him. Feeling ready than ever, Link drew out his sword. The King took out his horn and blew on it, calling for reinforcements as they gallop at his side.

Noticing the reinforcements, Sonic called out:

"Link! Chase after their leader! I, Rosalina, Yoshi and Mario will take care of those guys!"

Link nodded in agreement and chased after King Bulblin as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Sonic Home Attacks one of the Bulblin Riders out of its Bullbo. A Bulblin Archer shoots an arrow at the heroes, but Rosalina created a barrier, blocking the attack, giving a chance for Mario to shoot a fireball at the Bulblin. Yoshi used his tongue to swallow an arrow from another Bulblin Archer and spit it out back at it.

Back with King Bulblin, Peach used her Heart Magic to try to slow the King down so that Link could strike him with his sword. To give a higher chance for a close sword strike for Link, Luigi shot a thunderbolt at the King to stun him. This combination of defense attacks gave Link a chance to strike King Bulblin with his sword.

With the strike, King Bulblin dropped his horn and his Bullbo ran towards the Bridge of Eldin. At the same time, King Bulblin's comrades fled the scene, but not before knocking Luigi and Peach out of Epona. Link chased after King Bulblin, seeing his Bullbo jumping over the wooden fence. Link did the same thing with Epona. But then, two Bulblin Archers at each side of the bridge shot a flaming arrow at both wooden fences, setting them on fire, trapping the riders on the bridge.

"Link!" Peach cried.

Because there was no way to reach him, the group of six stood on one of the cliffs to watch the scene before them.

The riders were now face to face on each side of the bridge. King Bulblin charges after the swordsman. Link directed Epona after the King as well. As soon as they were about to meet each other, Epona moved a bit to the side and Link slashed King Bulblin with his sword.

They charged after each other a couple of more times until Link finally managed to defeat King Bulblin, knocking him into the bottomless pit at the side of the bridge. The flames dried out, and the rest of the gang was able to reach Link. They watched him through the sunset, standing close to the edge of the bridge, with Epona standing on her hind legs and Link raising his sword in victory, looking all heroic.

* * *

When the group brought Colin back to Kakariko Village, his eyes slowly began to open. His vision was still blurry, but as it cleans out, it revealed Link.

"Link… Is everyone…OK?" Colin asked weakly.

"Yeah, Colin. They are." Sonic answered.

Colin looked around, noticing the full group surrounding him.

"…Good." He replied with a smile. He then looked at Beth. "Beth… I'm sorry. You know…for shoving you. Are you mad?"

Smiling, Beth shook her head. Colin turned to Link, and said:

"I… I think I finally understand. I understand what my dad meant when he told me I needed to be stronger, like you, Link…" he then raised his left arm into the air and continues: "He wasn't talking about strength, like lifting stuff. He was talking about being brave…" he clenches his fist and let his arm lower down. "Link… You saved me, didn't you?"

"It wasn't just me; my friends took part as well." Link answered with a smile. Colin looked at Link's friends, who were also smiling softly at him.

"You… You all can do anything." Colin told them. "You can do something to help the Gorons in the mine too, can't you?"

"Of course." Link nodded.

Colin smiled softly before passing out on Link's arms, causing the children to worry. Talo tried to carry Colin on his back, until Renado approached him and picked Colin on his arms as Link and his friends stood up.

Renado made a nod to the heroes and walked towards his house alongside the children. The heroes looked at the Death Mountain's volcano and then at the sunset. They decided to head to the mountains by tomorrow morning.

Princess Zelda and all of Hyrule are counting on them and their peace with the Gorons of Death Mountain.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Honestly, the horseback battle was my least favorite part of the game. The first time I've played on that part, it took me forever to catch up to King Bulblin. And don't even ask me at the bridge phase...  
**

 **The next chapter is where our heroes will finally tackle the second temple, Goron Mines! Until then! Please review.**


	9. The Goron Mines

**The next chapter is here!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: The Goron Mines**

As morning was arriving in Kakariko Village, the group of heroes were ready to head back to Death Mountain and make their way to the Goron Mines located at the very top of the mountain. Before that, though, Link first purchased a Hylian Shield at the Malo Mart store. That shield was made of metal and will protect Link against any fiery attacks. Once they reached the tall wall again, Link told them to wait so that he could get rid of the Goron blocking the way.

He puts on his Iron Boots and waited for the rolling Goron to get closer. As soon as he did, Link grabbed hold of the Goron and with extreme force, he threw the Goron all the way down.

"The path is clear now, guys." Link told the rest of the group from above.

They climbed up the wall as Link removed his Iron Boots. However, once they moved a few feet away from where they previously were, another rolling Goron was coming to them.

"Oh god! Look out!" Link shouted and quickly put on his Iron Boots.

The other heroes backed away for a bit as Link throws away the other Goron. They moved ahead for a bit, and another Goron was rolling towards them, but he was rolling so fast that Link didn't have enough time to react.

"I got this!" Mario came in and put on his own Magnetic Soles.

Link and the rest watched Mario grab the Goron and throw him in the same way Link does. Link was astonished by that.

"Wow, I never knew you were just as strong as me, Mario." He said.

"Well, I can break bricks with my fist, carry a heavy hammer with a metal head and also punch some blocks. Maybe that's how I got such strength too." Mario replied.

"Oh, I see. Anyway, we should hurry up before any more Gorons come rolling after us."

On the next area, they were attacked by Bulblin Archers, shooting flaming arrows at them. Link blocked some with his shield and Rosalina blocked some with her barrier magic. Straight ahead, a meteor rain has started, but not too long before the Gorons noticing the heroes' presence on their mountain. They watched one of them climb onto a second one once he was curled. Then, the second stood up, launching the Goron standing on him at the platform above, and he rolled inside a cave opening.

But then, just as the heroes were trying to reason with one of the guarding Gorons on the meteor-raining area, all of a sudden, a huge shadow was forming over them, in which only Luigi noticed.

"Everyone! WATCH OUT!" he called.

He quickly shoved them out of the way as a huge shard of molten rock falls from the skies and imbeds itself in the flat area where they once stood.

"Whoa! That was a close one! Thanks, Bro!" Mario thanked. Luigi made a nod in response.

"Man, this place is a deathtrap…" Sonic muttered to himself.

"Totally." Link agreed.

"But what was the point of this molten shard?" Yoshi pondered.

"Don't know. Maybe that's what they call a traditional Death Mountain welcome!" Sonic joked, which made Yoshi snicker.

"Actually, it might be because of the volcano's eruption." Rosalina corrected.

"If that's the case, we better make to the top before the volcano erupts." Peach assured.

"You're right, but we have to reason with that Goron over there somehow." Link pointed to the Goron they were about to reason before the molten shard fell.

As they went towards the Goron, Mario examined the molten rock for a second.

" _I'm pretty sure there was a reason for this molten rock to fall then just because of the eruption. I wonder what? I better remember its location…_ " he said in his thoughts.

The group had no way to reason with the Goron, so they had to recoil him until he retreats and curls. They then climbed on his back and were flung in the air as soon as the Goron got up.

Once they were halfway at the top, the group came upon a hot-spring of hot water, where they saw the Gorons relaxing and they didn't look dangerous unlike the other Gorons they've seen so far, which left the heroes confused.

They went to the Gorons and they greeted them as 'Brothers' and 'Sisters' and even inviting them to join them whenever they pleased; was this the way they behaved before having that sudden change of attitude with the Gorons from below the tracks?

* * *

Soon, when they finally reached the cave entrance, the heroes were standing in an arena…with LOTS of Gorons. Noticing the seven's presence, the Gorons immediately began to roll towards them.

The heroes feared their worst, when suddenly, a voice yelled:

"ENOUGH!"

The Gorons stopped rolling and stood up and looked behind them. The two Gorons on the opposite side of the room stepped aside, revealing a smaller, more wizened Goron coming in; he was Gor Coron, the elder.

"Are those young ones such imposing enemies that you must all gang up on them? I think not, Little Brothers." Gor Coron spoke.

The heroes watched the Gorons walking away, allowing them to approach the elder.

"I am a Goron elder, little humans and creatures. I am called Gor Coron." Gor Coron said. "Because of certain…circumstances, I must lead the Goron tribe in place of Darbus, out tribal patriarch. Tell me, little humans and creatures, do you come from the village below? You have done well to come this far. You are strong…for humans and certain creatures. However…"

He then folded his arms, glaring at them with a stern look. "The mines beyond here are sacred to my tribe. Outsiders are not allowed. Unless…"

The group braced themselves. Gor Coron then grinned at them. "I could make an exception…but the Hylian one would have to beat me in a contest of power. Are you willing to try that, little human?"

Link accepted the challenge as both were heading into the arena. Unknown to Gor Coron, Link secretly puts on his Iron Boots before stepping into the ring. Thanks to his heavy weight from the Iron Boots, Link was victorious, which left Gor Coron and the Gorons impressed.

"Young warrior… You have a strong will…and sharp eyes." Gor Coron said. "Fine traits… Want to see how well you can use them?"

This peaked all the heroes' interest as they all approached Gor Coron.

"You have seen it, I would bet… The mountain, erupting without pause…" Gor Coron began to explain. "When the mountain began to rage, all four of us elders and Darbus, our patriarch, went inside to investigate its anger. We have two treasures that were entrusted to us by the spirits, and we must protect them. Do you understand?"

The heroes nodded in response. Gor Coron continued:

"But the moment Darbus reached out and touched both treasures…everything went wrong. He collapsed…and before our very eyes transformed into an unspeakable monster! He began to rage through the mines, trailing ruin behind him…and the eruptions grew more frequent and more severe. We used all of our strength to seal him deep inside the mountain… It…grieved us to do this to our patriarch…but we had no other course of action. I ask this favor of you, young warriors… Go to the aid of Darbus! Make no mistake, the spirits have guided you here. I, Gor Coron, need your help… On behalf of my entire clan, I ask you for your aid!"

"We will do whatever we can, Gor Coron." Mario grinned.

"Good… Thank you." Gor Coron thanked. He then turned to the two Gorons guarding the mine's entrance. "…You two! Let the young warriors pass."

The two Gorons stepped aside as told so, allowing the heroes to access the mines.

* * *

The Goron Mines were a special place for Gorons that only the ones with permission could enter. The type of material the Gorons have been mining? A special type of blue wall of stones in which they possess a strange behavior. It is said that the Gorons have been using them to produce bombs. And also said that these mines were an expansion of a certain Cavern from a different era.

The heroes felt the immense heat in their faces as they entered the mines. There were rivers of molten lava replacing the bottomless pits.

"How do the Gorons handle this heat?!" Sonic complained, removing his sweat from his forehead.

"The Gorons are able to survive very hot areas. That's why they live in Death Mountain." Link concluded.

As they approached the first set of platforms, Mario looked at the pool of lava from below and noticed that lava pillars were rising.

"Looks like we'll have to time the lava before we jump across." Mario told the gang.

Not wanting to get burned by the lava, the six heroes agreed, although Sonic was as reckless as ever; he used his speed to leap from stone to stone to the other side just seconds before the lava pillars dove back.

"Show off!" the remaining heroes called to him.

* * *

As they went further into the mines, the heroes reached a room called the volcano forge, where they first came across the blue stones carved into a turning gantry.

"Hmm, I can feel some sort of magnetic pull from these blue stones…" Rosalina pondered.

"If that's the case, we should use our Magnetic Soles and Link the Iron Boots." Mario suggested.

The group agreed with him. They stood under the gentry's shadow and put their own foot wears. In a split second, they were pulled by the stones' magnetic effect, and were now standing upside down. With that, the heroes knew that they'll have to use that mechanic for their advantage, which would prove valuable as they went even further into the mines.

* * *

After crossing a water-filled room (Sonic didn't approve much, of course), they struggled to walk on the magnetic walls until they finally reached a door. On the other side, there was one of the other Goron elders, Gor Amoto.

"Ah… I thought I felt a presence…but what a surprise to find young humans and creatures… Word has come to me of you…and if Gor Coron has faith in you, then your hearts must be true… I am one of the four Goron elders. Gor Amoto is my name. You are heroic, young ones. Please, you must lend this tribe your powers."

He then hands them a Key Shard. They needed all three pieces to return the Big Key to its original shape.

"That is one of the key shards that, when merged together, form the key to the room where Darbus is being held. He is our patriarch. The key is split into three pieces. Each of us elders keeps a piece. You must hurry to the other elders!" Gor Amoto said.

The heroes looked at the key shard and Sonic spoke:

"So, in order for us to get to Darbus…"

"…we must find the other elders first." Rosalina finished.

Mario then found the map of this dungeon and Link found Ooccoo hiding in one of the room's pots before they left it.

* * *

After passing the Diamond Switch Chambers, the heroes reached the Mine Loading Docks, where there was another turning gantry. They used the gantry's magnetic stones to reach the other side, where there was another door. It led them to the next elder, Gor Ebizo.

"Oh… Ah… The young ones. I am pleased to see you make it this far, Bruddas and Sistas… I am one of the four elders of the Goron tribe. I am called Gor Ebizo. You have heard of the plight of our patriarch. Otherwise you would not have come to see me. Here, take this, Brudda…"

He hands Link another key shard. Only one more remained.

"Now… There is one more shard, but seeing you has reminded me of the dangers that line the path to it… There is something that may help you… A weapon said to have been left in this mine by a hero of old. It is beyond price, and so we have protected it through generations… Now, when our tribe balances on the brink of ruin, it could aid in our salvation. The hero's weapon is stored safely up ahead… Talk to the guard and take it with you, with the blessing of the Gorons."

* * *

The heroes left the chamber and continued on. At the Mine Reservoir, they had to walk on the walls again to reach the door to the chamber Gor Ebizo had mentioned. However, their feet were hurt.

"Hey, let's take a break. For once, my feet are killing me." Sonic said, rubbing his feet.

Everyone except for one accepted his suggestion. Wait…except for one?

"Huh? Mario, what are you doing?" Luigi noticed that his brother hasn't stopped.

"I'm taking that weapon." Mario responded as he heads to the door.

"Mario! Wait!" Luigi called, but Mario had opened the door and went through it, and it shut tight, just like when Link fought Ook back in the Forest Temple. "Mario! MARIO!"

No response.

"Looks like Mario is going to fight this dungeon's miniboss this time." Link said.

"I hope my brother makes it out alive…" Luigi whimpered.

* * *

On the other side, the door had also shut tight for Mario. He was in a circular chamber with a platform made of the same blue stone hanging by chains over a large lava pool. Up ahead was a massive Goron standing there, wearing armor. He was Dangoro, the guard who Gor Ebizo spoke of.

"Whoa… Human?!" Dangoro said, upon noticing Mario. "What business does a human have coming here?! None! No business! This is a forbidden place! I will protect this treasure from you!"

Dangoro then jumped out from where he was standing and landed on the platform. Due to his weight, this caused the chains to break and the platform falls on the lava.

" _Guess I have no choice but to fight him._ " Mario said in his thoughts, glaring at Dangoro.

Dangoro starts to charge a punch at Mario, but because he was vunerable, Mario had the chance to punch his belly.

The pain was so intense that it caused Dangoro to curl and start charging his rolling attack. Mario puts on his Magnetic Soles and grabbed hold of Dangoro and tosses him into the lava. Dangoro cries in pain as he bounces at the lava.

Mario did the same thing twice until Dangoro finally gives up.

"Ugh… That…hurt a lot. Who knew that humans were capable of such feats of strength…" Dangoro laments in defeat.

Mario then hears the door opening. The rest of his friends showed up from behind him.

"Mario! Thank goodness you're safe!" Luigi cried, hugging his brother.

"You even managed to defeat that Goron by yourself? Great job!" Link congratulated.

Standing up, Dangoro noticed the group and guessed:

"…Uh… Maybe…you are…going to see the patriarch of our tribe?"

Turning to Dangoro, Mario answered:

"I and my friends are here to do that. But we were advised by Gor Ebizo to use the treasure that you guard."

"…Ah! So THAT is why you are here! In that case, take the weapon of the Hero of the past… But in exchange, you must save the patriarch of our tribe!"

"Leave it to us."

Dangoro moved aside and the heroes went to the door up ahead. On the other side, there was a treasure chest. Link opened it and he finds the Hero's Bow, plus a couple of arrows in a quiver, with a total of 30.

Taking an arrow out, Link placed the shaft onto the sight of the Bow, pulled back the string while aiming for a Torch Slug nearby. He then released the string and the arrow flew directly to the Torch Slug, killing it. Link's friends were impressed at his archery talent.

"Looks like I now have a much more versatile projectile weapon than the Slingshot." Link smirked.

* * *

The group went further into the mines and thanks to the Hero's Bow, Link was able to defeat enemies better than before. It was very helpful against Bulblin Archers and Beamos. Speaking of which, defeating the Beamos allowed them to reach the last elder, Gor Liggs.

"Ah! You are here at last! I heard that you might pay a visit, young ones. I am farsighted in all things. Here you go…the last key shard! Combine all three shards!"

With the third key shard, the three shards were combined to form a complete key.

"If you use that key, you can open the room where Darbus, the tribal patriarch, is being held. Who knows how powerful Darbus is in his new grotesque form… But I suppose I should trust your power, considering you came this far… Hurry, now! To the patriarch's room!"

With the assembled key and the Hero's Bow in their possession, the seven heroes managed to reach the entrance to the patriarch's room. They looked at each other and nodded, ready to fight. With that, Link inserts the key into the lock and opens the door to let everyone inside.

* * *

Upon entering the room, the door shuts tight behind them. They were inside of a serene and green circular room, where they heard some monstrously heavy breathing. Looking up, they caught a glimpse of a black giant creature restrained by two huge chains at his wrists and ankles. Only a tusk-shaped carapace head can be seen. Suddenly, the gem in the carapace glows; the beast awakens!

Roaring and growling, the monster struggles at the huge chains before bursting out of them and bellowing in rage at the heroes. The previously dark form bursts into fire, with flames coursing up and down the massive figure.

 _ **Twilit Igniter: Fyrus**_

Fyrus began to swing the chains at the heroes. They quickly dodged them and backed away from Fyrus. Link then noticed the glowing gem on Fyrus' head.

" _That HAS to be his weak spot!_ " Link thought as he aims an arrow at the gem.

With his friends distracting Fyrus, Link shot the arrow at his head, and when it hit the gem, it caused Fyrus to roar in pain while holding his head as he walks around the room blindly. Because Fyrus was covering his weak spot, the heroes had to find another way to strike it.

Luigi then noticed the loose chains on Fyrus' ankles and thought of something.

"Mario! The chains! Pull them!" he called his brother.

"Got it!" Mario nodded.

He goes toward one of the chains on the floor and grabs it, while putting on his Magnetic Soles. Thanks to his strength and the heavy weight of the Magnetic Soles, Mario was able to pull Fyrus' chain, causing him to tumble onto the ground, revealing his weak spot again.

"Link! Break the jewel on his forehead!" Mario called as he was struggling to keep Fyrus on the ground.

Link rushed to Fyrus' forehead and with massive force, he swung his sword to shatter the glowing gem.

Fyrus roars in pain and defeat as he staggers back. The gem on his forehead falls off and hits the ground next to the heroes. Fyrus' whole body explodes into shards of twilight and gem shards as he collapses onto the ground, back at being Darbus again.

The gem shards becomes red as they coalesce into the Red Chaos Emerald. Same with the shards of twilight, who coalesce into the second Fused Shadow. Both objects descend slowly to Link and Sonic's hands. Midna appears from Link's shadow.

" **Eee hee hee! Well done! Now we have two Fused Shadows and two Chaos Emeralds…"** she said, grabbing the Fused Shadow from Link's hands. **"Hmm… You know, you've been very helpful so far, so as a reward, I'll tell you an interesting story. Zant. That's the name of the King of Darkness who cast this pall of shadows over this world. He's very strong. You would be nothing to him in your current states… But Zant will never be my king! I have nothing but scorn for his supposed strength. Not that your Zelda is much better… It still appalls me that this world of light is controlled by that princess. A carefree youth, a life of luxury… How does that teach duty?"**

Not wanting any more of Midna's harsh words toward Zelda, Rosalina spoke:

"You shouldn't resent the circumstances of her life. She didn't choose it, after all."

"That is true. And I don't wish harm on her…" Peach added.

Midna then shook her head, as if disposing a thought.

" **No, as long as I can get my hands on the Fused Shadows, I'll be just fine."**

She flies and opens a portal to the outside world.

" **Well, just one more left… Shall we? Eee hee hee!"**

" _Is she trying to hide something from us?_ " all of the heroes thought.

Just then, before they were able to left, they noticed something shiny on the ground where the gem used to be. Mario went towards the glow and noticed a shiny golden key with a red gem shaped like a torch. He picks it up and examines it.

"Mario, what was that glow?" Peach asked.

"It looks like a key of some sorts…" Mario pondered, turning to the group. "Is this supposed to be the sacred relic that the spirit Eldin mentioned?"

"Maybe. You might want to keep it with you." Link said.

Mario puts the key into his pocket and looked back at Darbus regaining consciousness. Darbus places his hand on his head.

"Unngh… Urrgh…" he groans. "…Hmm? What am I doing here? Unngh… My head, it aches…"

Mario turned away from Darbus and heads to the portal with his friends.

" _I hope he gets better soon… I kinda feel bad for him._ " He said in his thoughts before disintegrating into shards of twilight.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **I had to skip a lot of parts of the Goron Mines because the dungeon was too big. But I tried my best to not make it way too small or the chapter would get a bit boring.  
**

 **Our heroes have the second Fused Shadow, the second Chaos Emerald and their very first sacred relic, which is a golden key! But for what purpose they had to use that key? Maybe we'll find out later on! Please review.**


	10. The Lanayru Province

**Tenth chapter for this story!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: The Lanayru Province**

The seven heroes reformed right in front of Eldin's spring. Just like with Faron, Eldin began to speak to the heroes:

" _Heroic Link, Sonic, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and Rosalina… North of here, across the plain and past the great stone bridge, in the lands guarded by the spirit Lanayru… You shall find one who you seek…"_

As Eldin's voice faded and the location of Ilia was possibly given, the heroes looked back at the sanctuary's entrance, where Renado and the children has gathered.

"Link…" Colin spoke, approaching the seven.

He eventually collapses at the edge of the spring, in which Link had to rush to him for aid.

"Ilia… You've got to save Ilia!" Colin looked back at Link. "Those monsters left me with the other kids, but they must have taken her somewhere else!" Link had an astonished look on his face as Colin continues: "Whenever I thought I couldn't go on, I would think of you and Ilia and hold on, Link…"

Colin then stood up by himself. "See? I… I'm fine now." A smile showed up on Link and his friends' faces, recognizing the boy's inner strength. Link stood up and looked down at Colin. "Remember what I told you back in Ordon, Link?"

 _ **Flashback:**_

" _When I grow up, I'm going to be just like you, Link!" Colin spoke._

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"…So you don't have to worry about me anymore! Go help Ilia!"

"Leave the children to me. I will watch over them, I swear it." Renado interfered. "Do not let their fates trouble you. Go to those who need you."

The seven heroes nodded. Renado then tells them something interesting: "In Hyrule, countless tales are told of the New Hero of Time and his Swift Hedgehog…and your and Sonic's deeds bring them all to mind. May the graces of the great goddesses who shaped Hyrule bear you on your way." He and the children bowed.

The heroes thanked the shaman for the blessing and left the village, but before that, Link went to Barnes' Bomb Shop and bought 30 Bombs. When they reached East Hyrule Field, the heroes were thinking about the recent events they've just received.

"Is it true that Renado told about an ancient legend where this New Hero of Time and a hedgehog who looked like Sonic went into an adventure?" Peach asked.

"It's true. Remember what Faron said back then? He said that I and Sonic had the blood of the New Hero of Time and that hedgehog in our veins respectively. So that'll make us their descendants." Link answered.

"Wow…" Luigi was astonished.

"So I and Link are both destined to become great heroes just like our ancestors… That's amazing…" Sonic pondered.

"But we were sent here for another reason probably, since we weren't in that other adventure with your ancestors. We know that the gods had been watching us the whole time just like Faron said. But what I don't get it was: for what reason they brought us here?" Mario questioned.

"Maybe it has something to do with that golden key we've found back at the Goron Mines?" Yoshi guessed.

Hearing Yoshi, Mario pulled out the key he had picked up in the previous dungeon and looked at it. "It could be, Yoshi, but we still don't know what this key actually does. But I do remember Eldin saying that this key plus six more, I think, are capable of shattering walls of darkness. And Faron said that I and my crew are one of the main keys for doing that too. What did he meant by that?" he puzzled.

"Maybe Princess Zelda would know." Sonic said.

"Speaking of which, we now have only one more area of Hyrule to restore light within. And it looks like the area is where Hyrule Castle is located." Link pointed at the castle engulfed in clouds of dusk.

"And Eldin said that we must head north to reach the last province. So we should hurry, before the twilight spreads even further." Mario said, putting the key back in his pocket.

With that said, Link called Epona and he, Luigi and Peach mounted on her, with Mario mounting Yoshi, Rosalina levitating and Sonic ready to run. They all sprinted towards the north, passing by the Bridge of Eldin. At the end of the bridge, there was a wall of rocks blocking the path. Link made a combo with his Hero's Bow and Bombs to make Bomb Arrows and shot the explosive arrow at the rock barrage, exploding them.

But then, upon the barrage's explosion, a Twilight Portal showed up above the bridge and a black spark was casted at a portion of the bridge's center. Before the heroes' very eyes, they watched the portion of the bridge disintegrate into twilight shards and into the portal! And to make things worse, three Twilit Messengers dropped at the north side of the bridge. With this event, fury and anger came to our heroes as they glared at the Twilit Messengers.

"Oh, those Twilit Messengers are SO gonna get it!" Sonic growled.

They immediately went to the Messengers and took them down, creating a new available portal. With that taken care of, they proceeded to the north, and when they were getting closer to the end of Eldin and the beginning of Lanayru, the sky turns into dusk again. Link, Luigi and Peach had to dismount from Epona.

" **Ah, we're finally here."** Midna came out. **"There's only one Fused Shadow left… So this is the last of the twilight you'll see, I guess. Whether or not you accomplish your final task and survive is up to you… Eee hee! So what will you do?"**

They wasted no time and stepped closer to the wall of twilight. Then, Midna once again grabbed them and pulled them into the darkness.

* * *

At the other side, the Lanayru Province covered in twilight was even more sinister and vaster than the other provinces, since this one was very big. Just like last time, the heroes went back into their beast forms.

"To think this might be the last time we'd be in these forms, at least." Sonic said.

The six wolves nodded in agreement. Midna reappeared on Link's back.

" **All right then, I guess I'll have to help you! But what a shame that this is the last of the twilight… I had become so fond of seeing it covering this world… Or…is it really the last you'll see? Eee hee! So, shall we get going?"**

They went down the path, killing some Twilit Keese in the way. A bit more ahead, the beasts caught a glimpse of something on the ground releasing a faint pink cloud of smoke.

" _ **We have another thing for us to sniff again."**_ Link said. But when they approached the object, Link suddenly recognizes it: _**"Hey! This is Ilia's purse!"**_

" _ **That means we'll be able to track her around here!"**_ Yoshi exclaimed.

The six wolves used their senses and sniffed the purse, with Link having a vision of Ilia. They forget the Youths' Scent and instead learned the Scent of Ilia. With that, an invisible pink trail appeared up ahead and the wolves began to follow it. Sonic had watched them doing all this, so he understands this time and followed them.

The beasts ran past the rocky grove, and at the end, they could see Hyrule Castle much closer now, located beneath the clouds of dusk.

" _ **That's… Hyrule Castle…"**_ Peach murmured.

" _ **The same place where we were first imprisoned…"**_ Luigi added. _**"And where we met Princess Zelda…"**_

" _ **Now it's covered in this awful twilight…"**_ Rosalina finished.

" **Hey, haven't we seen this castle before? Eee hee hee!"** Midna teased. **"So, we finally made it back here! Well, only a little farther, so hang in there! Or so I'd like to say, but… The going's a lot harder from here on out… Eee hee hee! All right, then… Let's get started."**

Trying to ignore Midna's teasing, the beasts continued down the path, defeating some Twilit Kargaroks and Twilit Bulblin Archers, crossing a stone bridge to reach the western area of Hyrule Field.

However, they were attacked by more Twilit Messengers at the western entrance to Castle Town. The seven fought and defeated the Messengers, creating another available portal. They went inside Castle Town.

* * *

There, they caught sight at the mass of spirits that roamed the city.

" _ **This almost reminds me of a horror movie I once saw…"**_ Luigi stuttered.

" _ **I know what you mean, Bro. It's a little unnerving seeing the people that live here like this. I say we are the lucky ones with our enhanced sights."**_ Mario replied.

" _ **Yeah, you're right. If it wasn't for that, imagine how freaked out I would be…"**_

" _ **Hey, but you can still try to face your fear of ghosts, right?"**_

" _ **I think so... Still not sure about that…"**_

The wolves continued to follow the trail at the southern part of the city, with Sonic following them. They eventually came upon a bar, with its door open. They went inside, and there was a trio of spirits at the same spot. With the senses on, the three spirits showed Ilia and a middle-aged woman looking after a Zora kid. Knowing that they can't see them, the beasts listened to their conversation:

"This boy… Can you save him?!" Ilia asked the woman.

"All right, little lady, try to settle down, OK?! I just now sent for the doctor!" the woman responded. "But this is strange… A child of the Zoras… I wonder if this is at all related to the incident the soldiers were talking about in back…"

" **Aw, what an emotional reunion! Yes, a girl and her wolf! Eee hee!"** Midna giggled, which made Link narrow his eyes. **"Sorry, but you know how it goes! These folks can't see you, either… Eee hee hee!"**

Once again, deciding to ignore Midna, Link went to the back part of the bar, where he noticed spirits of soldiers surrounding a map that was identical to the minimap the heroes were carrying. Link and the others looked at the map on the table while hearing the soldiers' speech:

"I've received orders from above to investigate why we can't go to the spirit's spring in Lake Hylia! Got that?!"

" _ **You have no idea…"**_ Link rolled his eyes.

Sonic looked at the map and marked the exact spot onto his.

"So, this is where we need to go?" he asked Link, who nodded in response.

" _ **If what the soldier said is right, that means that the spirit's spring is at this Lake Hylia region!"**_ Yoshi confirmed.

" _ **Yes, we should head south from here."**_ Mario said.

* * *

Having everything done for here, the seven beasts left the bar and the Town through the west again. They went south from there and reached the Great Bridge of Hylia. Right below it was Lake Hylia, but boy, was the drop that deep…

"Whoa… That's deep." Sonic muttered, looking down the bridge. "That valley down there is Lake Hylia?"

Link nodded in response. Sonic gulped a bit because of his fear of water; he knew that lakes have a lot of water. But something was quite off… "Is it me, or does that place looks really dried out to be a lake?" he pondered.

Just then, a strange smell caught the six wolves' attention.

"… **Hey, do you smell anything funny?"** Midna asked.

This made the wolves feel disgusted as they smelled the ground. Not just that; Sonic felt an odd liquid on his hands. He smelled them and said:

"That smells like—LIGHTNING OIL!"

Sonic let out a yell as a Twilit Bulblin Archer showed up on the other side of the bridge. The wolves began to snarl at the Twilit Archer, who shoots a flaming arrow at each side of the bridge and two huge flames from both sides had started and both began to follow the trail of oil towards the beast heroes!

"Holy crap! We're trapped!" Sonic stuttered.

" _ **We must find a way to get out of here! And fast!"**_ Luigi called out, noticing both flames heading towards them in a much faster pace.

Link noticed the creates on the bridge; the only way for them to escape was to jump off the bridge. He pushes one of them to the edge and climbed on. The rest of the gang noticed that.

"Link, what are you doing?!" Sonic questioned.

" _ **Everyone, we have no choice but to jump off."**_ Link told the others, making a head movement so that Sonic could understand him.

"Wait, you want us to jump off?!" Sonic asked. Link made a nod in response, which left everyone shocked.

" _ **Are you crazy?! Why would we do that?!"**_ Yoshi questioned while backing off a bit.

" _ **Do you guys want to die in the flames or not?!"**_ Link spoke in a serious tone, which came out as a snarl.

They had no choice but to agree. They all climbed up to the edge of the bridge, and after taking a deep breath, they all leapt off to a huge drop below.

"JEROONIIIMMOOOO!" Sonic screamed while falling.

* * *

They fell and fell, until they finally landed in the water of Lake Hylia. However, there was so little water that this place didn't even felt like a lake. They quickly went back to shore and shook the water off from their furs.

" ***cough* *cough*** you guys okay?" Sonic asked, coughing out some water since he almost drowned. The six wolves all nodded weakly. "Yeah, I'll take that as a 'sort off' which makes sense."

" _ **Bleh… Good thing we landed on a pool of water…"**_ Luigi coughed a bit.

" _ **Not meant to change the subject, but is this Lake Hylia?"**_ Yoshi questioned.

" _ **But there's so little water… I wonder what happened to it?"**_ Link puzzled.

" _ **Well, sounds like the spirit's spring should be somewhere around here… We should take a look around."**_ Mario suggested.

They then noticed some spirits standing by the small puddle. With the wolves' senses on, they noticed that these were Zoras, who looked quite worried at the puddle, fearing that all of Lake Hylia would dry out if it isn't fixed. So the heroes had to find a way to fill the entire lake to reach the spirit's spring.

They also learned from the Zoras' speech that the Zora's Domain, the biggest source of water of all Hyrule, might have a problem that explains why the water isn't flowing. Then, the heroes spotted a faraway spirit standing by an odd building in the distance. They went there, and with the wolves' senses, there stood an odd-looking man looking all lazy.

"Hurrrm… I'm too old for this… **Fyer and Falbi's Watertop Land of Fantastication**... It's our grand reopening at our new lake-bottom location… Whee." The man called Fyer sighed. "Hurrrm… Yeah, nice lake… Don't lakes have more…I don't know…water? Did the Zoras who live upriver do something? Or is it a curse from that spirit that floats around up there? Whatever. It's not like I can go up and complain… That's way too high."

Just then, Fyer made a sound of curiosity when he spotted a Twilit Bulblin in the distance.

"Whuzzat, a customer?!" but he realizes that it wasn't, and starts to panic. "YIKES! IT'S A MONSTER!"

Noticing the Twilit Bulblin in the distance, the heroes made their way to the monster. However, the Twilit Bulblin saw them and blew a Hawk reed, which caused a huge Twilit Kargarok to fly down.

" _ **Summoning a Twilit Kargarok with a Hawk reed?! That's something new!"**_ Link stuttered.

The Twilit Bulblin mounted on the Twilit Kargarok and began to attack the beasts by swooping down at them. They dodged in time and scattered.

What's worse is that Mario and Co cannot use their powers as wolf forms. Same goes with Sonic not having his speed in his Werehog form. So they all had to rely on claws and teeth. Sonic stretched his arms to knock down the Twilit Bulblin off from the Kargarok and while Link, Mario and Co attacked the Bulblin with their jaws, Sonic went straight for the bird and hold it on.

Then, once the Twilit Bulblin was done for, the Kargarok, who was being held by Sonic, remained. But before any of the beasts could attack it, Midna flew to it and mounted it. The Kargarok began to flail as Midna tried to dominate the bird.

" **Hey! Stop it! I'm your new master now! Settle down!"** Midna called out.

With that, the Kargarok did as she told and calmed down. The beasts were astonished at Midna for being able to dominate the twilight creature.

"Nice job, Midna!" Sonic said impressed.

The six wolves snorted in approval. It was then that Midna got an idea:

" **Hey! Why don't we use this guy to get us all the way to the lake's source?"**

"Hmm, that could work." Sonic said as the wolves nodded.

Midna then ordered the Kargarok to carry the six wolves while Sonic got on the bird's back. They all flew up the dried-up Zora's River, on the way to Zora's Domain to see the major problem with the water not flowing to the lake.

* * *

As they reached closer to their destination, the heroes realized that it was getting colder, which is quite unusual. The Kargarok dropped them at the Upper Zora's River before leaving.

" **Ah… We're already here?! That bird turned out to be more useful than I expected."** Midna spoke. **"Well, then… Where's the village of the Zoras? Let's look for it."**

They all nodded in agreement and jumped all the way down to reach Zora's Domain, and they seemed to find the source of the cold: the path up ahead was frozen!

" _ **Whoa… Everything is frozen!"**_ Yoshi was surprised. _**"I can see snow and icicles everywhere!"**_

" _ **Hey! Maybe THAT'S why the water isn't flowing!"**_ Mario confirmed.

" _ **Of course! The waterfall from Zora's Domain had turned into ice, so no water is coming out!"**_ Luigi concluded.

" _ **If that's the case, we must head into the heart of the source: the Zora's throne room, all the way up there!"**_ Link directed them to the very top of the waterfall.

" _ **And how are we supposed to get up there?"**_ Peach asked.

" _ **Hmm… Those icicles in the iced waterfall could serve as platforms for us."**_ Rosalina said.

" _ **Sounds like a good idea. Let's try it out."**_

Sonic watched the wolves using Midna's help to climb on the icicles of the frozen waterfall to get to the top. He uses his long arms to catch up to them. Once at the top, they went inside the Zora's throne room to see what's going on.

* * *

Inside, they were 'greeted' by more Twilit Messengers.

"Oh joy; third time today…" Sonic rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Once they took care of the Messengers and creating another portal, Midna then caught a glimpse of something under the ice.

" **Whoa! Hey! Down! Look below the ice!"** she called out.

The heroes saw a mass of spirits all under the ice. The wolves turned on their senses and noticed that the spirits were all the missing Zoras!

" _ **Those… Those are the Zoras!"**_ Link was shocked.

" _ **Really?! Oh no…"**_ Peach whimpered, which came out as a saddened whine, in which was heard by Sonic.

"Were those spirits the Zoras?" he asked the wolves. They all nodded in response, which even made Sonic surprised. "Wow… This is really strange… What in the world happened?"

" _ **So… How are we going to get rid of this mass of ice?"**_ Luigi asked.

" _ **If only I had my fire powers, then I could melt the ice…"**_ Mario pondered. Just then, something came into his mind: _**"Wait…melt…? That's it! Heat!"**_

" _ **Heat? But where we could find a huge amount of heat to unfreeze all this ice?"**_ Yoshi asked.

" _ **In hot places, obvious! And the only hot place in Hyrule is Death Mountain! Speaking of which, I think I remember something that is able to melt all of the ice in here! But, um… I think it's best for all of you to stay on that ledge over there."**_ Mario directed to the ledge on the right.

" _ **And… Why?"**_ Link raised an eyebrow.

" _ **You'll see when I return."**_

Mario led the other wolves to the right ledge, which confused Sonic. Mario turned to Sonic and gestured his head for him to come to the ledge as well. Once Sonic was on the ledge, Mario grabbed the map from Sonic's quills and unrolled it, pointing to the warp portal at Death Mountain. Midna noticed this and got off from Link's back.

" **You want me to take you there? Let me guess; you have an idea, don't you?"** Midna guessed. A nod from the gray-brownish wolf came to her. **"You guys better stay here. Your Italian wolfish friend has an idea; a big one."**

With that, Midna teleported herself and Mario to Death Mountain. There, Mario was already facing the same huge molten shard that had fallen into the ground during the eruption. He approached it and Midna came in.

" **This thing has been here for a while now, but it's still pretty hot… Oh! NOW I know what you meant…!"** she smirked. **"All right, let's give a warm welcome to the Zoras!"**

Midna casts an orange spark at the molten shard, and with great strength, she rips the shard from the ground and it disintegrates into twilight shards. The duo also gets teleported back.

* * *

Back at Zora's Domain, the remaining beasts watched astonished as the molten shard materializes from the portal and comes down crashing onto the ice and sinking into the pool. With the molten shard's intense heat, the ice begins to melt and all of the water entrapped in it came gushing all the way down to the River until it reached Lake Hylia.

As Mario and Midna reappeared into Zora's Domain, the beasts saw all of the Zoras quickly swimming back to shore, all panting, coughing and murmuring as they recover from their forced slumber.

" **Who knew that something so dangerous would come in handy…"** Midna spoke.

"Hold on… Mario, are you telling us that you used that huge molten rock back in Death Mountain to unfreeze all the ice?" Sonic questioned. Mario made a nod in response. "Dude… That's amazing…"

" _ **Wow, my brother always knows when very odd things can come in handy later on!"**_ Luigi exclaimed.

" _ **You're right! First, that odd bridge, and now that molten shard!"**_ Yoshi chirped.

"Well, now that the water is flowing again, we should be able to reach the spring. By just letting the current take us, we could reach Lake Hylia much faster!" Sonic said.

Just as they were about to leave, a mysterious voice called for them:

"Wait!"

The beasts turned around, and right above the pool of water, there was a ghostly regal Zora woman. She seemed lovely, and also a bit distressed.

"Please, you must allow me to thank you for revitalizing both my people and this spring, which is the water source for all the lands of Hyrule. In life, I was the elder of this Zora village and the queen of my people. I was called Rutela." The Zora queen named Rutela spoke.

" **Not to be rude, but we didn't exactly do it for you guys…"** Midna said.

Sonic rolled his eyes in annoyance upon hearing her words. Rutela then continued:

"The dark ones… They raided this village and, as a message to my people, executed me before them."

" _ **Zant has killed the Zora's queen? How rude…"**_ Peach whimpered; she really hates when people suffer.

Looking down at the seven beasts, Rutela spoke to them:

"Young men, young women… You who take the forms of proud beasts… I have something to ask of you. When the dark ones descended upon our village, I sent my young one, Ralis, to Hyrule Castle to inform Princess Zelda of our fate." Her face then changes to worry. "But…I fear danger followed him from this doomed place. I feel it. His presence grows fainter to me over time… But my time in this world has passed, and though I would give it gladly, I no longer have a life to risk in his rescue. Please… Would you save my dearest, Prince Ralis? If you do this thing, I will bestow upon you the protection of water. This power will grant you the ability to swim and respire in very deep water as if you were a Zora. Please… Save my son…"

She then vanished. Link then remarked about the Zora boy he saw at the bar in Castle Town; could he be Prince Ralis?

" _ **Well, first of all, restore light back to Lanayru ASAP, right?"**_ Yoshi guessed.

" _ **Yes, we cannot save Prince Ralis like this."**_ Link replied. _**"Now, come on, let's go."**_

The six wolves and Sonic left Zora's Domain, and just by following the water current, they made it back to Lake Hylia.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **The next chapter will show the last province being restored from twilight to light! I didn't put it in here because the chapter would get too long. Please review.  
**


	11. Calm and Hope

**Here you go! Another chapter!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Calm and Hope**

When everyone left the throne room, they not only saw that Zora's Domain's waterfall was back, but this place was raining.

" **Looks like the shock of that impact not only raised the water level, but sped up the flow, too… This water should flow all the way down to the lake. Why don't you let it take you there?"** Midna suggested.

"That's what I've already said before!" Sonic grumbled.

Midna just shrugged as the seven beasts jumped off the high cliff, landing in the water. They let the current drag them all the way to Lake Hylia. Strangely enough, it wasn't raining there. Luckily, they've arrived right in front of the spirit's spring, which this time, it was located inside a grotto.

"Thank god I didn't sink like a rock this time!" Sonic said in relief. "But is that really the spirit's spring?"

" **It must be. Well, let's go! Snap out of it and go to the spring!"** Midna demanded.

The seven beasts grumbled in annoyance as they went inside. There, they saw a dim light standing next to the end of a ledge. They stood on the ledge and heard the spirit talk:

" _I am…the last of the spirits of light…consumed…by twilight… Heroes… Chosen ones of the gods… You have…done well to make it this far… Gather…my scattered Tears of Light…that were stolen by shadow… Gather them…in this…"_

The light spirit hands them another Vessel of Light and marks the location of the Parasites on their map.

" _I am sure…you know by now…the forms…that these dark insects take…when they steal…our light… In this shadow realm…of twilight…the insects…are invisible…like the humans…of this world… Collect…my light… Lift the final cloud of twilight…that threatens to cover…all of Hyrule…"_

With that, the beasts left the spring and checked their map for the glowing dots.

" _ **Well, at least this is the final area of twilight…"**_ Luigi said.

Sonic checked the map and found that there were Parasites at Lake Hylia, Zora's River and Zora's Domain. He motioned the six wolves to come gather to him and said:

"Alright, so Mario, Luigi and Peach will search here at the lake. Link, Yoshi and Rosalina will go back to Zora's Domain, and I will head back to Castle Town. You got all that?" all of the wolves nodded in response. "Good. Let's go."

Everyone split up to head to their chosen places; Mario, Luigi and Peach stayed at Lake Hylia, Link, Yoshi and Rosalina called back the Twilit Kargarok to fly above the river to Upper Zora's River, and Sonic used his arms to climb the walls of the Lake to reach the Great Bridge of Hylia. However, as he was climbing, he was thinking that he was sure that he noticed something odd when examining the map:

" _Man, I am certain that I DID saw something out of place while I was checking the map… Ah well, I'll find out later._ "

* * *

 _ **With Mario, Luigi and Peach**_

As soon as they moved an inch as everyone was splitting up, they caught a glimpse of a spark crossing the bridge on the left.

" _ **Did you see that?"**_ Mario said alarmed.

" _ **Yes, we've found our first Parasite."**_ Peach replied.

" _ **Let's follow it."**_ Luigi demanded.

They crossed the bridge, but the Parasite escapes again. And to make matters worse, they were ambushed by Twilit Messengers. They defeated them, creating another portal in the sky.

" _ **Okay, maybe we should split up to find the three Parasites in this area. I'll go after that one who escaped, Mario will search on the left and Luigi will search on the right."**_ Peach said.

" _ **Okey!"**_ both Mario and Luigi nodded, with a snorting noise coming out from them in reality.

Peach found the escaped Parasite just a few inches away from where she and the Mario Bros fought the Messengers. She bites it, and collects the dropped Tear of Light.

Mario found another Parasite a few inches away from where Peach was, and saw it digging under the ground.

" _ **Hey! You can't escape from me!"**_ he growled as he chases after the Parasite under the dirt and digs it, revealing the insect. He defeats it and collects another Tear.

" _ **Who knew that these guys are also able to dig?"**_ Mario commented.

Luigi was heading to the far right of Lake Hylia. He even saw another Zora spirit commenting about something flying up ahead.

" _ **That should be a Parasite."**_ He said to his own.

He went to where the Zora was looking at, and indeed found a Parasite. He defeats it, and collects its Tear.

* * *

 _ **With Link, Yoshi and Rosalina**_

As they were flying above the river, they even came across three Parasites on the way. Once they reached the Upper Zora's River, they noticed a woman shrieking in fear by something. Eventually, a Parasite came out of hiding, which frightened the woman even more.

"What's…that? A bug? Eww, nasty! Why's it so big?! Golly, I am so sick of roughing it in the boonies!" they heard her talk.

Link just shrugged and defeats the Parasite. Once the Parasite was gone, it left the woman confused:

"Huh… It's gone? That was nasty… I hope it doesn't come back… Ah, well. Golly, work is tanking just as hard as my personal life these days…"

The wolves went to the other side, where Link spotted another Howling Stone. He went to it, and learned another song: the Requiem of Spirit. This time, the golden wolf and the silver werewolf were now located at the west side from Castle Town.

The wolves except for Rosalina used Midna's help to climb all the way to the top of the waterfall. Rosalina had located a Parasite flying nearby some lilypads at the bottom. She defeats it and collects its Tear. She then waits for Link and Yoshi to come back down.

During the climbing, Yoshi spotted a Parasite down on a platform at the left side. He defeats it, collects its Tear and tells Link to keep climbing as he jumps back down to reunite with Rosalina. With that in mind, Link continues to climb all the way to the top.

In the throne room, the Parasite was standing on the right wall, so Link had to knock it out by bumping his head onto the wall. He defeats the Parasite and collects its Tear.

" _ **All right, all of the Parasites in Zora's Domain are defeated. Hopefully everyone else found the remaining ones in Lake Hylia and Castle Town…"**_ Link said to himself.

* * *

 _ **With Sonic**_

After a lot of walking, Sonic finally reached Castle Town, unaware of the golden wolf and the silver werewolf that just showed up. He checked his map and saw that the Parasite was at the same bar area. He goes there by this ghostly town and defeats the Parasite at the bar area. However, he checked the Vessel and realized that only one Tear remained. Wait…one is missing?

"Oh god, I knew it! There was only 11 glowing dots on the map!" Sonic cursed. "But…where is the last one then?"

Just then, he noticed his map glowing. He picks it up and unrolls it, and to his surprise, an extra dot was added at the Lake Hylia region!

"What?!" he couldn't believe that. "There it is… What's going on? This is weird…"

* * *

 _ **Back with Mario, Luigi and Peach**_

Shortly after the last dot was added to the map, Mario, Luigi and Peach caught a glimmer of something underneath the water at the northeast part of the area. They went there to get a closer look while standing on some large floating planks. It also started to rain in this area.

" _ **What's that?"**_ Peach asked.

" _ **I don't know, but that sounds like-"**_

But Mario couldn't finish his sentence as the water begins to bubble and boil. The three wolves turn on their senses to see what it is. Suddenly, a massive electrical pustule-ridden parasite bursts from the water! It was a Twilit Bloat, the feeder of darkness.

" _ **T-T-That's a-!"**_ Peach started.

" _ **A HUGE PARASITE!"**_ Luigi finished, shouting in horror.

" _ **She's no doubt the queen of those insects!"**_ Mario suspected. _**"If we're going to get this last Tear and restore light, we have to defeat her!"**_

The Bloat flew backwards a bit before charging after the wolves. They all dodged the attack by leaping to different planks, forcing the Bloat to hover above the wooden planks. Seeing this, the wolves tool this opportunity to lunge onto the Bloat's body and bite her abdomen.

After the first strike, the Bloat retreats on the water's surface and charges after the wolves again by swimming after them. They leapt to other planks and managed to attack her in the same way as before.

After that, the Bloat falls on her back on the water. Now, all they had to do is to pop all the six tendrils. They did it successfully and watched the parasite queen loll from side to side, hanging upside-down, and then deflate slightly, landing on the lake with a dull splash. It then explodes into the very last Tear of Light.

" _ **Whew! That was frightening!"**_ Luigi sighed in relief, which came out as a relieved-sounding snort.

" _ **But hey, it was worth it to get the last Tear!"**_ Mario bellowed.

" _ **Splendid! Let's get this Tear and free all of Hyrule from the clutches of darkness at long last!"**_ Peach exclaimed.

They swam towards the last Tear and collects it. With that, the Vessel of Light begins to shine brightly. It was brought back at the spring and plunging into it, and light and color was restored to the Lanayru Province thanks to our heroes. Then, Midna stepped out and tells the heroes in a demanding way:

" **You make sure to get that last Fused Shadow, now! Eee hee hee! See you later!"**

Once she disappears, a drop of water falls into the spring, creating a sphere of light rising out of the water. The last light spirit takes the form of a large snake, which startled the heroes a bit.

" _My name is Lanayru. Your efforts have at last restored each of us light spirits in Hyrule. O heroes chosen by the gods… The dark, chaos and the other light power that you seek… It waits in a temple set in the bed of Lake Hylia… But before seeking them, you must now bear witness to something…and never forget it. This dark power… You must know that it was the will of the goddesses that we lock it away…"_

Then, a vision occurs to our heroes as the spirit Lanayru tells the tale of the creation and the assault of the Dark Interlopers:

 _When all was chaos, the goddesses descended and gave order and life to the world. They granted power equally to all who dwelt in the light, and then returned to the heavens. These lands became known as the Sacred Realm._

 _For ages, the people lived at ease, content in mind and body… But soon, word of the Sacred Realm spread through Hyrule, and a great battle ensued… Among those living in the light, interlopers who excelled at magic appeared. Wielding powerful sorcery, they tried to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm._

 _It was then that the goddesses ordered us three light spirits to intervene. We sealed away the great magic those individuals had mastered._

 _You know this magic… It is the dark power you seek…the Fused Shadow. O heroes chosen by the goddesses… Beware… Those who do not know the danger of wielding power will, before long, be ruled by it. Never forget that…_

With that, the heroes snapped out and were back to reality. The spirit Lanayru was no longer there. Feeling all tiredly, they collapse on their knees at the edge of the spring. They heard Lanayru's last words:

" _The dark power and the two other ones that you seek are within the sleeping Lakebed Temple in Lake Hylia…"_

* * *

After experiencing about what just happened, they stepped out of the spring to take a look at the restored Lake Hylia. And it was beautiful that they would've expect; it was calming and breezy, which amazed Peach:

"Wow! Lake Hylia looks even prettier than before!"

"Yeah, but let's relax a bit somewhere, because we need to talk about some things that Lanayru just spoke to us." Link said.

He directed everyone to the right corner of Lake Hylia, which was the closest place to gaze at the waterfall, and they all sat down there to start some important conversations:

"Do we really need the Fused Shadow? What if collecting those causes more trouble?" Link asked, looking at the waterfall.

"We have no other choice, Link. Even if it means dark power, Midna said that we need to match Zant's power." Rosalina answered.

"But we don't know how dangerous they are and neither how to use them. I mean, is it really worth it?"

"Well, it's either being controlled by the Fused Shadow, or a lifetime of nightmares if the twilight makes a comeback, with an endless fear from everywhere and every day; people will be spirits for the rest of their lives, with creatures of darkness roaming the land. And even worse: we will all be beasts forever and we'll never get back to our homes… You don't want that, do you?"

Link looked at Rosalina, and then at the rest of his friends; he doesn't handle him and them being beasts for the rest of their lives, living in the darkness, and no longer be able to go back to their homes. So he had to agree.

"You're right, Rosalina. We must do this for Hyrule and for all the people."

"Well, that's why we were also sent here, after all." Sonic added. "But not only we need to search for the Fused Shadows; we also must search for the Chaos Emeralds, which are the chaos powers that the spirits mention. I'm sure we can match Zant's power with those. But we need all seven in order to do so."

"Yeah, but, what about the 'light power' that Lanayru mentioned?" Peach puzzled.

"I think he might of have mentioned this." Mario said as he pulls out the golden key. "And strangely enough… Shortly after I touched this key, I started to feel more…eager for anything."

"You have a point there, Bro. I noticed you looked very determined to restore light when we fought against that gigantic Parasite from earlier." Luigi pointed out.

"You three fought a gigantic Parasite?!" Link was surprised.

" ***sigh*** it's a long story…"

"If what Mario said is right, that means we'll probably find another one of those keys in that Lakebed Temple alongside the last Fused Shadow." Yoshi guessed.

"And another Chaos Emerald too." Sonic added.

"Okay, but we still cannot reach the Temple yet, since we have nothing that allows us to swim underwater." Link said.

"Hold on, didn't Queen Rutela mention about her son in danger? Now that light is back, this should be the perfect time to help Prince Ralis." Peach suggested.

"That's a great idea! And Rutela also told us that if we did that, she'll grant us the necessary power to reach the Temple. Plus, we already know where Prince Ralis is; he's at the bar of Castle Town. So we should find a way to get out of here." Mario said.

" _Wow, my Bro is sure getting eager for any type of goal!_ " Luigi said in his thoughts.

"We can get out of here, but in a blasting way; we'll have to ride Fyer's cannon to reach the highest point, where there's a shortcut to west Hyrule Field." Link pointed at the cannon house.

They all went there and Link paid 10 Rupees to Fyer and they were eventually launched to a building at the highest point of Lake Hylia. There, they found a door and exited Lake Hylia and into west Hyrule Field.

With that, they made their way to Castle Town, but before that, Link and Sonic went to where the golden wolf and the silver werewolf was to learn a new skill.

* * *

Once both heroes were at the snowy realm, the ghostly beasts transformed into the Heroes' Shade.

" _We meet again."_ The human Hero's Shade said.

" _It appears your efforts have begun to return some vigor to Hyrule, but it is far too early to relax."_ The hedgehog Hero's Shade commented.

The other skills Link and Sonic learned from the Heroes' Shade were the Back Slice and the Dash Spin, in which both are able to hit the enemy's backside.

" _There are still four hidden skills for you to learn."_ The hedgehog Hero's Shade said.

" _Do not neglect your daily sword and speed training between now and the time you come to learn the next skill! May we meet again."_ The human Hero's Shade said before everything going white.

* * *

Once both were back to reality, everyone went to Castle Town and into the bar where the prince was located. There, they were greeted at the time when an old man was yelling at the bar's owner:

"That is a Zora child! This is beyond my expertise! Hmmmph!"

The group stood aside as the man stormed out of the bar. Then, Ilia ran at the door, calling for him:

"Doctor, wait! If something isn't done, this child will…" but no response.

Ilia decides to return to the Zora boy. She glimpsed at Link, but she didn't react as Link would've expected.

" _Something is not right with her…_ " all of the heroes thought the same thing.

"Well, this isn't good. A human doctor won't do, huh…" the woman sighed.

Ilia was crying in despair. Just then, the woman remembered something:

"That old coot reminded me, though… I've heard of a shaman in Kakariko Village, in the Eldin lands, who's tended Gorons and Zoras."

Hearing that, Ilia stops crying and beamed in happiness:

"Is that true? Perhaps if we take him there…"

"Inadvisable! Too dangerous!" a soldier protested. "But we can't turn a blind eye to a pretty girl in need, either. Yes, we'd better escort you! Am I right, boys?!"

He and his four comrades cheered at this announcement, raising their spears.

"Well, isn't that nice." The woman smirked. "To reach Kakariko, we've got to cross two plains that are each infested by dangerous beasts. But we'll be safe now!"

However, when the soldiers heard 'dangerous beasts', they slowly stopped cheering, paralyzed in fear and they all ran away, except for a short one, who realizes that he was left alone, and quickly caught up with his comrades.

"Cowards! Don't EVER show your faces here again!" the woman yelled at the door.

Then, her eyes shifted to Link and his friends. "Oh my! Looks like we've got a swordsman, two plumbers, two princesses, a dinosaur and a hedgehog left!" she exclaimed.

They all looked astonished at the woman, until Mario stepped in and told:

"We all know who that Zora kid is and we know about the shaman in Kakariko, so that's why we're here. So we would gladly help you to escort him there. However, the bridge to the east is destroyed."

She first looks at them seriously before shifting to a grin. "Well, we would be pleased to have you escort us." She then looks at Ilia. "So, get ready to go, honey. Pronto!"

Ilia nodded and began to pack everything they would need. The woman noticed the change of expression on Link's face and walked towards him. "You know that girl, don't you?" she asked.

"Yes. We're childhood friends." Link answered. "But, why doesn't she remember me?"

"It's a real shame… She can't even remember her own name right now." The woman replied.

" _So Ilia lost her memory? How sad…_ " Peach lamented in her thoughts.

"Bless her heart…" the woman continued as she turned to the Zora boy. "She found this poor boy collapsed in the road, so she did all she could to save him."

" _So Rutela was right, after all. If she did sent Prince Ralis, then that means he got attacked and brought all the way here…_ " Rosalina said in her thoughts.

"More courage in that girl than in all the soldiers of Hyrule, for sure!" the woman exclaimed.

" _Ilia is still courageous even after losing her memory? Wow…_ " Link said in his thoughts.

"You all lend your strength to her, you hear me?" the woman insisted.

* * *

An hour later, the group of heroes and the two women were at the viewing platform just outside of Castle Town, peaking at the Great Bridge of Hylia, where King Bulblin was roaming. Noticing him, the heroes frowned at him.

"So that red plumber said the bridge to the east has been destroyed, huh? Then our only option is to cross the bridge to the west." The woman said. "You see what that means? You'll have to deal with that thing!"

After a transition, the scene shows the heroes in their same way for traveling faster (you know what I mean, right?). On their side, there was a wagon where the woman took the reins and Ilia was in the back.

"Th-Thank you so much for this. Um, if you don't mind me asking, what's your names?" Ilia asked the heroes.

"My name is Link, and these are my friends: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Rosalina and Sonic." Link introduced everyone.

"Thank you. I will never in my life forget your kindness, everyone." Ilia replied with a soft smile.

"Little lady, I think you'd best save your thanks until we're safe in Kakariko…" the woman interrupted. She then looked at Link. "This swordsman of ours has great eyes, honey. They're proud and wild…like a feral beast."

" _Well… How ironic._ " Sonic said in his thoughts.

"And those ones with him look very loyal and kind, determined to lend a hand. We need a beast right now, to keep the true ones at bay. If we make it to Kakariko safely, we'll just thank him and his friends then, OK?" she finished before blowing a kiss and winking to Link. Link and his friends smiled back.

They all took off towards the bridge. Once they reached there, they all stopped. Luigi and Peach dismounted off Epona and looked at King Bulblin up ahead, and noticed that he was carrying shields on both sides of his body.

"Looks like your sword won't work against him this time, Link." Luigi said.

"But your arrows should do the trick!" Peach exclaimed.

"OK, it's your turn, honey! We're counting on you!" the woman encouraged.

"Got it!" Link nodded and gallops towards the bridge to face off against King Bulblin once again.

King Bulblin charges after Link immediately. Link did the same with Epona as he prepares his arrow to shoot at the Bulblin. Once he was close enough, he releases the arrow, striking King Bulblin. He did it again for one more time and King Bulblin falls to his doom. Then, a key went onto Link's hand.

"Maybe this key will open the gate leading to Kakariko Village!" Link exclaimed.

The wagon and the rest of the gang went to Link. Peach and Luigi mounted on Epona again.

"Nice, honey! Keep up the good work!" the woman congratulates Link.

The next part for the heroes was to protect the wagon from the enemy attacks. They ran onto Bulblins on cliffs and riding Bullbos aiming fire arrows at the wagon. When an arrow hit the wagon, it begins to catch on fire. Link had to use the Gale Boomerang to blow away the fire in the wagon.

So Link was left in charge of blowing the fire from the wagon if it receives a fire arrow strike, while the rest of the heroes attack the enemies. Sonic Home Attacks the nearby Bulblins, Mario shot fireballs at the ones far away from Sonic and the ones standing on the cliffs, and Yoshi uses his tongue to swallow the flaming arrows and sent them back at the shooter.

However, after they opened the gates, Kargaroks took the scene too. Peach shot turnips at the lowest flying Kargaroks, Luigi shot thunderbolts at the Kargaroks who were too high for the turnips to reach them, and Rosalina shot magical projectiles that home at the incoming Kargaroks to prevent an ambush.

Then, they finally reached the gates to Kakariko. They unlocked it quickly and escaped to the village.

* * *

A couple hours later, Renado came out of the room at the inn and spoke to Colin and Link:

"…He has passed through the worst of it. As long as he rests, he should recover in due time."

Link and Colin smiled at each other, relieved. That is, until Renado asked Link a terrible question:

"Do you know the fate of his mother? Her welfare consumes him. He has been mumbling deliriously about her almost constantly…"

Link crest falls; he knows that Rutela has suffered a terrible fate. He tells Renado everything about her and what happened.

"…I can see the knowledge grieves you. It must be an awful memory." Renado replies saddened.

"I'll stay with him until he's better! No matter how long it takes!" Colin interfered.

"Is that so? Thank you, Colin." Renado thanked as he kneels down to Colin's level and pats his shoulder.

In the room where Ralis was resting, Luda and Ilia were watching over him while having a conversation.

* * *

After that, Link and Colin headed outside, where Sonic, Mario and his crew, alongside the woman were standing.

"Hey, Link, about Ilia…" Colin spoke. "Is it true, what they said about her?"

This saddened Link and his friends; it was hard to explain a grave situation to Colin for them. Then, Renado came in:

"Yes, she has lost her memory, Colin, and regaining it will be no simple task. But it will be all right, child. If we just give her some time, I am certain that Ilia will find her heart again. So, Colin, I'd like to ask you to stay in this village until then. It is our turn to show the courage that you have already displayed."

Colin smiled as he goes back inside the inn and Renado walks away.

"Nice to see there's still hope here. And it's always good to see happy results repay you and your friends' efforts…" the woman said. With that said, Link and his friends turned to her. "Those skills of yours… Any chance you're of the mind to put them to use for Hyrule? What hope there is in our kingdom is frail and dying…but there's still a group trying to do what it can. And I'm a member of that group."

She then held out her hand to Link.

"Call me Telma." The woman named Telma introduced herself. Link took her hand and shook it.

"I may just stay here a bit longer. I'm still worried about Ilia, and… Well, never mind about the rest." Telma continued, looking out into the village. She then walked back to Link and his friends with her hands on her hips. "You guys, I want to see you again in my bar, hear me? The bar is actually a kind of a safe house for my friends. There's a passageway that leads to the castle from in there, as well."

She begins to walk away before giving one last speech:

"If you ever need anything, stop by. I'll be waiting for you, honeys!"

She winks at them before meeting up with Renado. Link looked up at the sky and sighed in exhaustion:

"Dawn is drawing near… Boy, time sure flies…"

"Yeah, we should get some rest." Sonic said.

They were about to head inside until Rosalina noticed a glow coming from behind them.

"Wait a minute, everyone. We have someone who wants to see us." She said with a smile.

They all turned around to see Rutela. Smiling gratefully, she began to guide the seven to the Graveyard. There, she made the rock with the symbol of the Zoras disappear, revealing a narrow passage. They went through it, and on the other side was a beautiful spring with a tombstone at the other side. Rutela was hovering next to the tombstone. They went there and she spoke with happiness:

"I am deeply grateful to you for aiding my son in his time of need. You were right to bring him here. Kakariko Village is a sacred place for the Zora people. It is where we take our eternal rest. My husband in life, King Zora, also rests his spirit here. It is no coincidence my son found his salvation in this place."

She then gestured to the tombstone.

"…That which I have promised you is within this grave. During his lifetime, my husband created two types of garments specifically for the chosen heroes, garments that houses the abilities of the Zora."

The tombstone opens by itself, revealing a blue armor clothing and six pink-colored scales involved in bubbles of water, which seemed 'unbreakable'. Link took the Zora Armor while the rest took the M-Zora Scales.

"Young swordsman, this armor will allow you to swim freely and breathe underwater like a Zora. Now for you, young visitors, the scales are the same thing, except that you'll gain something else; these Zora scales are mixed with mermaid DNA, which is why it's called M-Zora Scale. So that means you'll gain mermaid tails when you use then, but your legs will return when you get off the water." Rutela explained. "Now, at last, I can join the king in slumber. And yet… My son… He still knows nothing of my death. If you see him again, please pass on this message… Tell him he must not grieve his mother's passing. Tell him she wanted him to be brave and live on as the king of our people. And… Tell him his mother…loves him without end. Tell him…"

She fades away completely.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **I first remember that the Parasite Queen scared the hell out of me when I saw her for the first time! And about that cutscene where Lanayru explains about the Fused Shadows, I couldn't imagine how the scene would be with seven people, so that's why I didn't describe it and instead just put the dialogue. I also remember that I was all like 'WTF' when I first watched that cutscene.  
**

 **And finally, I couldn't also imagine Sonic, Mario and his crew with a Zora Armor, so that's why I've decided to put an item that does exist in another _Legend of Zelda_ game (I described the scale the same way it's shown in _Ocarina of Time_.) but it works VERY differently as you just saw right at the very end. I know many doesn't like mermaid stuff, but hey, for what reason I'm called FairyTalePrincess?**

 **The next chapter will show our heroes heading to Lakebed Temple! Please review. (I also liked the way I referenced the chapter's name to the name of an actual song from this game!)  
**


	12. The Lakebed Temple

**So sorry for the long wait; I was too lazy. X(**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: The Lakebed Temple**

Now with the items that allows the heroes to swim underwater in their possession, they were now able to head back to Lake Hylia. Link knows of a secret passage in the Graveyard's spring, where they were currently standing at, that is a shortcut to Lake Hylia, but it was blocked by boulders. So Link had to exit the Graveyard and head back to Kakariko Village to buy 15 Water Bombs from Barnes. The Water Bombs function exactly like the regular Bombs, except that they can be used underwater. Originally, the regular Bombs would explode immediately when in contact with water.

With the Water Bombs, Link went back to the Graveyard's spring where his friends were waiting for him, and told them:

"All right, now that I have the Water Bombs, we can access that secret passage blocked by boulders which will take us directly to Lake Hylia, where the temple is located. So, let's use the items that Rutela gave us."

With that said, Link puts on his Zora Armor while his friends pulled out their M-Zora Scales. Eventually, as soon as they stretched their hands to touch the pink scale surrounded by water, that water disintegrated and covered up their entire bodies as they started to sit down involuntarily. Once the water and the scales faded, they all became mermaids and mermen:

Both Mario and Luigi became bare chested, hatless and their gloves were gone. Mario's tail was red and Luigi's was green. Peach and Rosalina were wearing mermaid tops with the same color as their dresses. Same goes with their mermaid tails. Sonic, on the other hand, had two fins on his tail and Yoshi's tail was dolphin-like. They all, including Link, gave silent gasps.

"Whoa…" they all said.

"Well, Rutela said that if we get out of the water after diving in, our tails will disappear." Rosalina remarked.

"If she said so, let's dive inside then." Peach replied.

"Let's hope the water isn't cold…" Luigi stuttered a bit.

The heroes dove into the spring's water. Link had a breathable mask covering his mouth, so he couldn't speak unlike his friends, in which they could breathe and even talk underwater (they're mermaids and mermen, of course).

"Wow, not only we can breathe underwater but we can talk too!" Sonic exclaimed.

"And it looks like Link has a mask covering his mouth, so he cannot speak to us. At least, he can hear us, right Link?" Yoshi asked. Link made a nod in response.

Link swam towards the boulders and placed a Water Bomb next to them, and they exploded, revealing a hole. They all swam inside.

* * *

They emerged out of it while being dragged by a strong water current, pushing them to the lake of Lake Hylia. They went to the surface to take a look.

"You were right, Link. That passage indeed took us directly to Lake Hylia." Mario said.

"Yes. Now that we're here, we should be able to head to the area where the Lakebed Temple is." Link confirmed.

They swam forward until they came upon a huge chasm underwater. When they got next to the Temple entrance, Link had to blow another rock pile with the help of a current to gain access.

* * *

The Lakebed Temple was once called the Zora Temple or the Water Temple in the era of the Hero of Time and it was a sacred place to the Zoras, but it was now overrun by monsters, so the Zoras had to seal it with the same boulder the heroes had exploded. This place was originally guarded by the Sage of Water and the Temple was built above the water, but it was sunk after many years.

The heroes found themselves inside a dark and deep tunnel filled with coral, seaweed, Shell Blades and jellyfish. Once they came upon the surface, they were now inside a waterless grotto. They pulled themselves out of the pool of water, and with that, Link's friends were once again covered with water as they were crawling out, and magically, the water turns into a sphere again and the pink coral reappears inside of it. With that, their tails were back into legs and the human friends had their clothing back.

"Now that's what I call magic!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Indeed." Link agreed, removing his breathable mask from his mouth. But then, he looks at the ceiling and saw something 'jelly'. "Uh oh! We've got trouble!" he quickly drew his sword.

Eventually, Chu Jellies fell from the ceiling, surprising Link's friends. Link quickly slashed the Chu Jellies with his sword. Then, his friends watched him scooping the red one's remains into a bottle, which confused them.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Luigi asked, a bit grossed out.

"I'm scooping the Red Chu Jelly's remains. Each colored Chu has various effects: the red and blue ones heals wounds, yellow can be used as oil for our lanterns, and rare ones which are gold and sparkling has short invincibility and heals better. However, we better avoid the purple ones which are the most common, but for an obvious reason; they make you sick and can sometimes kill you." Link explained.

After the explanation, they climbed the stairs where the door blocked by a gate was, and Link jumped off and grasped a golden handle and pulled it down, making a 'click' sound, which caused the gate to open. They all went to the next room.

The next room was slightly larger, with stalactites at the ceiling. As soon as they stepped forward, one of the stalactites fell down by itself.

"Well, then…" Sonic gulped. "That's treacherous…"

"Hey, don't you think you ought to knock down those stalactites hanging off the ceiling first, Link?" Rosalina suggested.

"They don't look to be very stable. I'd bet they'd break pretty easily if I hit them with the Bomb Arrows." Link said.

With that, Link shot Bomb Arrows at the four stalactites and they all fell down, giving him and his friends a way up to the next platform. They crossed the room to the other side while defeating some Helmasaurs.

The next room was some connecting bridges positioned atop the circular water currents from below. All they had to do in this room for now was to defeat a Lizalfos blocking the door to the next room.

They had finally arrived at the temple's main chamber: it had three layers with a stairway in the center that lead from the middle layer to the top layer. Under the stairs was a locked door and at the ceiling, a glass and crystal chandelier was hung. The heroes were impressed by this huge chamber.

Link stopped and thought for a second; he knew that the Fused Shadow might be inside the door under the stairway, but they couldn't reach it yet. He saw water at the very bottom, so he went down the stairs to take a closer look. The rest of the gang saw Link going downstairs and quickly followed him with confused expressions on their faces.

Once he was at the middle layer, Link ran around until he spotted a tile channel leading to a door. Seeing this made him put the pieces together; he finally came up with a conclusion to the gang:

"Everyone, in order for us to reach that door under the stairs, we'll need to raise the water level. I've concluded that these tiles can carry the water from the top to the bottom, and the structure clearly states that the only way through that door is to release water from the top and middle layers. So we have to move back and forth between floors to solve this puzzle."

The gang looked around at the stairs and at the tiles and understood what Link meant.

"Oh, now I get it. The water can flow from above to the bottom, creating a path leading to somewhere in this waterworks temple that controls the water level." Peach concluded.

"Yes, so we need to find the room that connects the waterway to this one." Link nodded.

He pulled the golden handle to make the stairway turn to their location. They ran up the stairs, defeated a Tektite and went inside the door that had a tile channel under it.

* * *

 _ **An hour later…**_

After finding this dungeon's map and releasing the water from the eastern section, the heroes made all the way back to the main chamber, and found out that the water level rose a layer up. If they could make the water flow on the western side, then the water would raise another layer and they'll be able to reach the door on the bottom.

They went back at the Cog Cavern by the lower floor and they got onto one of the spinning platforms. There were two available doors in this room. They first went to the straight one to grab a Small Key, and went back to head for the left door.

After unlocking the locked door at the other side, they reached another underwater segment. As they swam, a couple of jellyfish and Shell Blades attacked them, forcing the heroes to take them out to not interrupt their way.

However, Link and Yoshi were the only ones who weren't attacking, and instead kept swimming forward, ignoring the enemies. They came upon an upwards tunnel and went through it. The rest of the gang noticed them going up the tunnel, and quickly tried to catch up to them.

Unfortunately, it was too late; as soon as Link and Yoshi emerged out, the opening shuts, cutting them off from the rest of the group.

"That's never a good sign…" Sonic whispered to his friends.

With Link and Yoshi, they were inside an odd, circular chamber. All of a sudden, splashing noises came, startling the duo. They looked at their front to spot tadpole-like enemies called Toadoes swimming to them.

"Did they just came from the ceiling?!" Link questioned as he defeated the Toadoes.

"Uhh… Link… Look up there…" Yoshi gulped while pointing upwards.

Link looked up at the ceiling: there was a gigantic toad latched onto the ceiling. It wakes up, belches, falls off its stalactite, and shakes off its brood, releasing more Toadoes. That toad creature was Deku Toad.

"YUCK!" Yoshi grossed out.

"What the heck?!" Link stuttered.

With the Toadoes coming after them, they had to take them out quickly. Once all of them were cleared out, Deku Toad leaps very high into the cavern, in which both the heroes didn't see it.

"What? Where'd he go?!" Link said confused, scanning around the room.

Just then, Yoshi spotted a giant shadow of Deku Toad becoming larger under Link's feet; he was going to get squashed.

"Link!" Yoshi called out as he quickly uses his tongue to drag Link towards him, just in time before Deku Toad crashes down on the ground where Link originally was.

"That was close!" Yoshi sighed in relief.

Link then noticed Deku Toad's tongue sticking out of its mouth.

"Yoshi! Let's aim for its tongue!" Link demanded.

"OK!"

They went towards Deku Toad and Link slashed the tongue with his sword while Yoshi uses Yoshi Bomb to crush it.

Deku Toad roars and croaks in defeat as he lolls his head, still with his tongue sticking out, and thrashes in the water, before belching up a dirt bubble and collapsing, deflated. He disappears and the dirt falls away, exposing a chest.

"I almost thought I was going to be sick with this toad's appearance…" Yoshi murmured.

"Me too. And it looks like he left out a chest. Let's see what's inside." Link said.

He goes towards the chest and opens it. The item inside was a Clawshot, in which its grappling hook was shaped like a claw.

"Ooh, what's this?" Yoshi asked with curiosity.

"I believe that's a Clawshot. Now I should be able to grapple onto various targets that are too far away from me. Like this." Link explained as he aims the Clawshot at a medallion plate and fires its grappling hook. The claw grabbed the plate, and pulled Link into it while the gate leading out opens. Yoshi was impressed.

"Now, come on. Our friends must be worried sick of us." Link called out.

"All right, but hearing the word 'sick' is not helping…" Yoshi stuttered.

Link rolled his eyes as Yoshi flutter jumps to where he was and they exited from the door. Once they emerged out, they found the rest of the gang going towards them.

"Yoshi! Link! What happened?" Luigi asked.

"We just fought a disgusting-looking gigantic toad. I kind of felt a bit sick while fighting it." Yoshi explained.

"Ew…"

"But it was worth it, because I just got a new item with me that will allow us to explore more of this temple." Link said.

"If that's the case, we should do it now!" Mario insisted.

Everyone nodded and left the room they were currently standing.

* * *

 _ **Some more hours later…**_

With the help of Link's Clawshot and the Compass, the heroes finally managed to release the water on the western section, causing the water in the main chamber to rise a bit more, reaching the exact level for them to reach the door on the bottom. They also obtained the Big Key for this door and went through it, getting ready for this dungeon's boss.

On the other side, there was a simple pool of water. But the water wasn't any close to being shallower, oh no; this pool was very, VERY deep.

"Whoa… That's deep." Sonic said stunned.

"The boss must be in the very depths. We'll have to swim all the way down if we want the Fused Shadow." Link said.

They had no other chance but to agree with Link. They went back to their aqua forms and swam all the way to the very bottom, where they spotted some columns arranged in a circle.

When they touched down to the very bottom, they were greeted by a gelatinous tentacle. Suddenly, a strange eye slides inside of it. The ground shakes and more of those tentacles emerged out, followed by a gigantic roaring mouth.

 _ **Twilit Aquatic: Morpheel**_

"Come on! I'm already sick of fighting that toad, and now I have to fight this beast with his eyeball coming out?" Yoshi complained with bitterness and grossness at the same time.

Link then noticed Morpheel's eyeball coming out from one of his tentacles. He uses his Clawshot at the eyeball, dragging it towards him and quickly stabs it before it quickly came back to its main body, hiding in the tentacles again.

"Guys! The eye is the weak spot! Let's help Link beat it!" Sonic called out, upon seeing this whole scene.

They first took out the Bombfish that Morpheel unleashed them. After Link dragged the eyeball towards him again, the whole group teamed up to attack the eyeball.

But when they thought it was going to be easy, they saw Morpheel snake back into the hole and it roars out, revealing himself to be a gigantic snaking creature, serpent-like.

"Everyone, we've got to get to the eye!" Rosalina declared as she and the rest swam after Morpheel, who was destroying the columns in his path.

"We're trying—WAH!" Luigi almost got hit by one of the tentacles.

"But not that close!" Mario warned.

"That thing is fast!" Peach said surprised.

"Some sort of grappling hook would be useful right now!" Sonic commented.

Upon hearing the word 'grappling hook', this gave Link an idea: " _Wait, 'grappling hook'? That's it!_ "

He aims his Clawshot at Morpheel's eye, which was rested inside of his body, and gets dragged by it. Once Link was riding Morpheel's back, he pulls out his sword and delivers one final stab at the sea monster's eye.

Morpheel swims erratically, slamming into columns, and thrashing through the water until it falls forward and rams maw-first into the side of the wall. This springs a large leak, causing the entire arena to drain away in seconds. The heroes were back from their aqua forms while sighing in relief. The eyeball falls on the ground and explodes, and the beast explodes into shards of twilight and gem shards.

Both shards coalesce into the last Fused Shadow piece and into the Blue Chaos Emerald. They float down to Link and Sonic's hands respectively. Midna reappears from Link's shadow and speaks:

" **There it is! The last Fused Shadow… I'll just take that, thanks!"** she takes the Fused Shadow with her. **"Now, don't resent me for all I've put you through. I NEED this thing! Besides, we have to do something about Zant, the one who thinks he is the king of shadows… His power is a false one… I'll prove it using these!"** she makes the Fused Shadow disappear. **"So… I've done everything I needed to. I'm sorry for dragging you all over the place with me…"** she floats away and casts another twilight portal. **"So… Shall we go?"**

"Just a minute." Yoshi said, surprising everyone else.

"What is it, Yoshi?" Peach asked.

They saw Yoshi walking towards the location where the eyeball exploded, and there was another golden key similar to the one Mario had, except this one had an oval-shaped green gem at the handle.

"Is that another key?" Luigi asked.

"Yes! Look at it!" Yoshi shows the key.

"It looks similar to the one we found in the Goron Mines, except that the gem is different." Mario said, taking out his key for comparison.

"Maybe they share a connection with each other?" Yoshi guessed.

"I don't know. Maybe we'll find out soon enough." Mario replied.

"He's right. Let's just get out of here." Link declared.

Everyone nodded and left this area via the portal.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **I had to skip a lot of the Lakebed Temple because it was one of the largest temples in _Twilight Princess_. I also remember that when I first saw Deku Toad for the first time, I was grossed out by it! Which explains why I made Yoshi get grossed out by this miniboss.  
**

 **All three Fused Shadow pieces are found, as well as another Chaos Emerald and another of those mysterious golden keys! What will happen next? Find out in the next chapter! Please review.**


	13. Midna's Lament and the Master Sword

**A lot of important things will be revealed in this chapter!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Midna's Lament and the Master Sword**

With the third Fused Shadow, the Blue Chaos Emerald and another golden key in their possession, the heroes were brought back at the edge of Lanayru's spring.

"We're back at the spring…" Peach said.

"Everything is so quiet here." Rosalina added.

"It sure is. Come on, let's go." Link said.

Everyone nodded in agreement and turned around to leave the spring. However, they're not going anywhere because they were startled by a tall armored figure standing in front of them. They looked at the figure, completely speechless. The figure made a strange whale-like noise and remained motionless.

Soon, the whole spring began to glow and the Spirit Lanayru rose from his lake, snarling at the figure. But then, the figure released a shockwave of energy that knocked the heroes off their feet and strikes Lanayru with full force. Lanayru eventually crashes into the other side of the wall, loses power, and the figure forced him into the lake. Twilight had fallen on the area once again.

With the cave bathed in twilight, the heroes immediately shifted back into their beast forms and Midna, who was previously a shadow the whole time, was also exposed. She raises her head and glared at the figure:

" **Zant!"**

In an instant, the figure, known as Zant, holds Midna still by using some sort of telekinesis. He walks towards the edge of the spring and uses his power to snatch the three Fused Shadow pieces from Midna. She watched shocked as the pieces flew to Zant.

"Did you honestly mean to take an ancient and withered power like this and turn it against me?" he spoke. "You are a foolish traitor, Midna. Why do you defy your king?"

" **My KING? You, who do nothing but abuse the magic of your tribe? You must be joking!"** Midna hissed.

"How dare you?! Are you implying that my power is…our old magic?" Zant replied angrily. "Now THAT is a joke!"

Using his telekinesis, he moves Midna to the sandy earth and slams her into the ground.

"This power is granted to me by my god! It is the magic of the King of Twilight, and you WILL respect it!" he said as a glowing red orb of twilight showed up on his chest.

At the same time, as Midna was recovering, Sonic regained consciousness just in time to witness Zant about to strike Midna.

"NO!" Sonic shouted and leaps toward Zant, but he was paralyzed in the air by Zant's telekinesis, and was sent flying into the wall, dropping the three Chaos Emeralds in the process. Zant glanced at the Emeralds and decided to take them as well in the same way he did with the Fused Shadows.

" **The… The Emeralds…"** Midna weakly said.

"Hmm, I can sense great power in these gemstones. They will certainly come of use." Zant commented.

With him distracted, Midna took the opportunity to rush to the heroes to wake them up. However, as she was trying to wake them, she noticed strange black and orange shards being implanted into the heroes' foreheads. Before she could remove them, the shards were slowly dissolved into them.

Midna was once again dragged by Zant's telekinesis. Zant leans close to her and continues:

"My Midna… Did you forget? Those beasts are one of the light dwellers who oppressed our people. No matter how much you may desire otherwise, you will never be more than a shadow in their world. You cannot consort with their kind! But if we can make their world ours, Midna…light and darkness will meet at last. Our tribe will take back their realm…and sweet darkness will blot out this harsh light! And that, Midna, is why…"

The lower part of his mask retraces, revealing his mouth and he whispers in Midna's ear:

"…I need you. Not just for me, but for all of our people… Lend me your power."

Clearly refusing, Midna managed to struggle out of Zant's grasp and landed in front of the beasts, bracing herself.

"So be it… I will return you to the light world you covet!" Zant scolded.

Midna finds herself being dragged by Zant again as she was sent towards the spring. Zant then dispelled the twilight covering the cave, still keeping his grip on Midna. As light was back at the cave, the Spirit Lanayru rises from the spring being under Zant's control and blasts a full force of light at Midna, who screams in agony. Light enveloped her and both her and Lanayru vanishes.

With Midna out of his way, Zant turns around, only to notice that the heroes were also gone.

* * *

Somewhere, at the nighttime North Hyrule Field, seven orbs of light showed up. They faded to reveal the seven unconscious beast heroes, getting placed on the ground gently. As soon as their feet touched the ground, they all started to slowly open their eyes.

"Ugh… What happened? I feel like I got hit by a truck." Sonic groaned.

He turned to see the six wolves looking at themselves with their eyes widened.

" _ **Even with the twilight gone, we're still beasts?"**_ Yoshi was surprised.

" _ **How is that possible?"**_ Luigi asked.

" _ **I'm not sure, but I think Zant did something to us to make us still remains as beasts."**_ Link said.

" _ **The only thing I remember is that I think I've just felt something disintegrating inside my forehead…"**_ Mario pondered.

" _ **Hey! I've felt the same thing too!"**_ Yoshi interfered.

" _ **You did?"**_

" _ **Well, if Yoshi felt it too, then that means something has indeed went inside our foreheads to make us stay like this."**_ Rosalina concluded.

Just then, the six wolves heard a gasping sound; it came from Sonic.

"What the hell?! Where are the Chaos Emeralds?" he questioned in unbelief.

Hearing this made the wolves yelp in surprise; the Chaos Emeralds were gone? Then, they all heard familiar moaning coming from Link's back.

" _ **Midna?"**_ Link turned his head to look at her.

" _ **What happened to her? She looks… Desperate."**_ Peach lamented.

Not only that but Midna's colored tone was also different: she appeared all pale; her skin black as soot and her hair white as snow. Originally, she would always sit straight up while riding Link's back, but now, she was too weak and too tired that the only thing she is able to do is to lie on the Hylian hero's back.

Suddenly, Lanayru's voice echoed in their minds:

" _Link, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Rosalina, and Sonic, heroes chosen by the goddesses… Go to the princess locked away in the castle. That princess holds the key that can unlock you from your shadow forms…"_

" _ **The princess…? Princess Zelda!"**_ Peach beamed.

" _ **I am sure she can help us get free from our beast forms."**_ Link assured. _**"So let's hurry to the castle!"**_

The six beasts began to follow Link towards the south. As they were crossing the field, rainclouds covered the dark sky, and began to rain.

"Well, 'Rain always make a drama scene even more dramatic', cliché." Sonic sassed.

The wolves couldn't help but agree. They were attacked by a couple of Bulblins on their way to Castle Town.

When they finally reached Castle Town, it was quiet and empty since it was raining and was at night; lit torches were everywhere. When they reached the front gate of the castle, it was blocked by two guards.

"Great, how are we going to get in?" Sonic grumbled.

" _ **Not like the guards would let us in…"**_ Luigi muttered.

" _ **No, but remember what Telma told us all the way back? She told that there is a secret passageway leading to the castle next to her bar."**_ Link said.

" _ **Well then, that means this passage is our only way in."**_ Mario confirmed. _**"Where is the bar located, Link?"**_

" _ **This way!"**_

He directed everyone to Telma's bar. There, they searched high and low for the secret passage, until a voice called for the six wolves:

" _ **You there!"**_ it came from Telma's cat, who was coming out of a window.

The wolves turned their attention to the cat.

" _ **You're Link, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and Rosalina, correct?"**_ the cat guessed.

" _ **Y-Yes! But, how can you tell?"**_ Luigi asked, very surprised that Telma's cat recognized them for some reason.

" _ **I just could, you know. I'm Louise."**_ The cat named Louise replied. _**"Do you remember meeting me in this shop before? Though I don't think we were properly introduced…"**_

" _ **Um, you're welcome…"**_ Yoshi said in a kind tone. " _Did I just replied to her in a kind way?_ " he said in his thoughts.

" _ **In any case, I must tell you, I'm a bit puzzled as to why you look like that."**_ Louise continued.

" _ **It's a long story…"**_ Link rolled his eyes.

Then, Louise glanced at the pale Midna resting on Link's back:

" _ **Oh… Another patient? You certainly are a curious sort…"**_

" _ **She's in a serious state right now."**_ Mario told her. _**"By the way, do you know the way to the tunnel that leads to the castle, Louise? We were told that only Princess Zelda could help her and us."**_

Louise then gestured to the same window she just came out.

" _ **Here, get in through the window. The attic is connected to the castle's waterway. It's an old waterway, though…so it could be a rough trip."**_ She said. _**"Well… I suppose all that's left to do is make sure that the humans don't notice you."**_ After speaking, she moved aside.

Sonic watched Link pushing one of the crates with his head towards a large arrangement of crates.

"That window leads to the tunnel?" he went to Link. He nodded in response.

They climbed the crates and went inside the window. On the other side, there were tightropes for them to cross before reaching the tunnel. They proceeded carefully, trying to not break a single pot.

* * *

After several twists and turns in the dark maze, the seven found themselves sliding down the rainwater into a large chamber filled with water. They defeated some Rats in the chamber before opening another passage leading to another water slide.

On the other chamber, they were greeted by some Skulltulas. After defeating them, they came upon a large web blocking their path. That is, until Link found a stick and lit both sides with fire and used it to burn the web.

They continued on, encountering Keese and Bulblins. When they reached of what appears to be a dead end room, the wolves caught a glimpse of a patch of dirt in the ground. They all gathered together to dig it, and instantly, the floor crumbles and everyone fell down.

When they exited the area they landed on, they found themselves inside a very familiar dungeon; it was the same place where they were imprisoned days ago! Thus, they were given the direction they needed to reach Zelda.

* * *

After following the trail their memories displayed and crossing the hurdle that were laced on the roof of the castle, the heroes made their way to Zelda's tower. They only had to climb the spiral stairway to reach the princess' room.

However, Zelda was nowhere to be seen at first. As the heroes searched, they heard a tumble; Midna was unable to stay on Link's back anymore so she fell off. They went to check on her, and a white gloved hand rested on her shoulder. They looked up and saw Princess Zelda.

" **Please… Please tell me… How do we break…the curse on these ones?"** Midna asked weakly as she rose her left hand with Zelda gently grasping the small hand. **"These…are the ones… You need them…to save your world! That's why… Princess… Please… You must help them…"**

Zelda then reached her right hand towards the beasts, and the symbol of the Triforce, the same birthmark that Link also bore, glowed gold. When she reached for their foreheads, a strange signal came to her, and she spoke:

"What binds them is a different magic than what transformed them when they first passed the curtain of twilight. It is an evil power." As she looked at Link's friends, she saw confused expressions on their faces, so she explained to them: "Our world is one of balance… Just as there is light to drive away darkness, so, too, is there benevolence to banish evil." Once she saw that the six had understood her, she made a request to everyone: "Head for the sacred grove that lies deep within the lands guarded by the spirit Faron. There you will find the blade of evil's bane that was crafted by the wisdom of the ancient sages…the Master Sword."

"The Master Sword?" Sonic questioned.

"The Master Sword is a sacred blade that evil can never touch." Zelda answered. "Evil cloaks you like a dark veil…and that blade is the only thing that can cleave it. But only one of you can fully harness its power."

She then looked at Link:

"Link… Hero sent by the goddesses…" she lifts her right hand to show her Triforce mark. "Like you, I have been granted special powers by the goddesses… You are the only one that can awaken the Master Sword's full power to break your curses."

Then, Mario and Yoshi took out the golden keys that they have found in the Goron Mines and the Lakebed Temple with their mouths and placed them on the ground next to Zelda, in which she noticed. She saw both wolves pointing at both keys with their paws. By those actions, Zelda was sure about what they were trying to say to her.

"Those keys…are two of the seven sacred Keys of Light." She explained. "They were crafted a long time ago by the goddesses and the light spirits and were watched over by them for many ages. These keys are made of pure light, so together, they are able to crush any sort of darkness, no matter how grave."

All of the beasts were very astonished at that story. Zelda continues:

"However, to make sure that these keys wouldn't fall into the wrong hands, the light spirits hid them in different corners of Hyrule. They were meant to give the keys to their chosen heroes until they would finally arrive someday. It is said that the keys' names reflect their respective owner's most important side of his or her whole personality, and once the owner lays his or her hands on the right key, this person's personality side will get stronger."

" _ **Oh! So THAT'S why Mario was feeling much more eager than before he touched the key!"**_ Yoshi concluded. _**"And why I replied to Louise in a quite kind tone…"**_

With those words out of his mouth, Yoshi turned his attention back to Zelda.

"The keys you just found are the Keys of Eagerness and Kindness." She said, pointing at Mario's key and Yoshi's key respectively. "The other five ones, in this particular order, are the Keys of Bravery, Love, Knowledge, Resoluteness and Courage. Once you gather them all, you'll be able to match the powers of darkness in any way."

With that said, Midna coughed as she spoke:

" **Fine… Everyone… You can… You can get to the woods…on your own, right?"** she turned to Zelda, her life slowly fading away. **"Princess… I have one last request… Can you tell them…where to find the Mirror of Twilight?"**

This made Zelda gasp in surprise, meaning that she have already heard of such artifact before. She became silent for a bit before finally speaking again:

"Midna… I believe I understand now just who and what you are… Despite your mortal injuries, you act in our stead… These dark times are the result of our deeds, yet it is you who have reaped the penalty. Accept this now, Midna. I pass it to you…"

Zelda closes her eyes, concentrates, and focus her power to Midna. Light shined from her body to her hand and started to shimmer on Midna and she levitates.

" **No! Everyone! STOP HER!"** Midna called out.

But Zelda only smiled at her before fading away from sight. Midna returned to her original colors after her wounds were healed and she slowly descends to the ground. Everyone stood for a moment, gazing at the spot where Zelda supposed to be.

" _ **She… She vanished…"**_ Peach murmured.

" _ **I'm having a feeling that she would be in trouble very soon…"**_ Rosalina pondered.

After a moment of silence, Midna spoke, shaken:

" **We go back, everyone! Back to Faron Woods!"**

She leaps on Link's back, and as the seven beasts were leaving, Midna looked at her hand and said to herself:

" **Zelda… I've taken all that you had to give…though I did not want it."**

With Midna's power, she warped everyone outside of the castle at the western part of Hyrule Field. Dawn was drawing near. Time sure flies. However, as soon as everyone moved a few yards away from the gate, all of a sudden, a hissing sound was heard. They turned around, only to notice the whole castle being engulfed by an eerie yellow light in the shape of a diamond.

The seven heroes and Midna growled in anger, thinking it was Zant who was responsible for this. But Midna unclenched her fist, remembering the last words from Zelda. She soon shakes her head and teleports everyone to the Faron Province.

* * *

She teleported them to North Faron Woods, where the Forest Temple was located. When they reached the same path leading to the Temple, they found the same female monkey running away and being surrounded by…Puppets?

And without a warning, the Puppets turned their attention to the heroes.

" _ **What are those? Puppets?"**_ Yoshi guessed.

" _ **Yes, but where did they come from?"**_ Link wondered.

" _ **Let's just take them down, 'cause they're charging after us."**_ Mario demanded.

They punched, kicked and bit every Puppet until the last one fell. The six wolves then went to check on the monkey.

" _ **Did… Did you all save me?"**_ the monkey asked. The wolves nodded in response. _**"Th-Thank you!"**_

" _ **You're welcome."**_ Yoshi replied in a kind tone. " _Oh, my kindness has indeed grown stronger!_ " he said in his thoughts.

" _ **Listen, since you're so nice, let me tell you something: there's a really pretty wooded area on the other side of this cliff!"**_ the monkey directed her head to the far left. _**"I climbed over there, but when I tried to get deeper into the woods, THOSE guys attacked me! What's in those woods, anyway?"**_

" _ **Hmm, that explains why she was running away."**_ Mario thought, turning to the gang.

" _ **And I'm guessing that something not good has happened to the Sacred Grove…"**_ Link pondered. _**"We better go check."**_

Once the monkey left, Sonic walked towards his wolf friends.

"So? What did she say?" he asked them, understanding that they had just talked to the monkey.

Since they couldn't talk in these forms, the six wolves could only lead Sonic to the cliff that the monkey directed them to. Sonic squinted his eyes at the log platform that the wolves led him to, and saw some platforms carved on the walls.

"I see something! It looks like a path leading to somewhere." He spoke.

" **So there's another section of forest beyond this cliff."** Midna said. **"All right, let's go!"**

With the help of Midna, the seven beasts leapt from platform to platform to the other side of the woods. They ended on an opening leading to spinning bridges up ahead. They had to wait for the wind to blow in order to traverse the bridges. Next, they had to walk on two tightropes over a cliff while also avoiding the swinging logs.

At the other side, Link caught a glimpse of another Howling Stone. He gets closer to it, howled the new song, the Prelude of Light, and the golden wolf and the silver werewolf had appeared at the southern part outside of Castle Town. With that taken care of, the heroes entered the Sacred Grove.

* * *

The Sacred Grove was a dense and closed forest filled with different paths to take, so it's quite easily to get lost.

"This must be the place." Sonic said. "Now, let's find that sword and get back to our own bodies."

Of course, that last sentence was moot to the six wolves. Then, Link heard a wind melody sound coming from his right; it was another Howling Stone, but with a Triforce Symbol on it.

" _ **Another Howling Stone? What does this one do?"**_ Link questioned.

He approaches it and howls the song, Zelda's Lullaby, and memorized it. Soon, after that, a strange little kid holding a lantern and a trumpet descends from the trees and looks at the heroes with an odd smile and doing a small playful cackle.

" _ **That's… Skull Kid!"**_ Link glared, snarling came out from him in reality.

They watched the Skull Kid blowing his trumpet, causing more Puppets to come out. Skull Kid then runs away and the blocked passage opens by itself. After taking care of the Puppets, Sonic pointed to the opened passage and shouted:

"After him! He might attack again!"

Agreeing, the six wolves followed Sonic down the tunnel. They looked around for the Skull Kid until a faint sound caught their attention.

" _ **Hold on, do you hear that?"**_ Rosalina spoke.

They remained quiet, and could hear faint trumpet sounds playing a very odd music. They guessed it might be Skull Kid's trumpet, so they decided to use their ears to find him. However, they were attacked by more Puppets.

* * *

After exploring the whole grove, being constantly attacked by Puppets and finding Skull Kid multiple times before finally defeating him in a circular area that was surrounded by what looked like a fortress in ruins, Skull Kid jumps in the air and vanishes, but not before saying:

"Hee hee hee! That was fun! Let's play again sometime! Bye!"

Eventually, the sun shone on the Sacred Grove once again and a passage was revealed. As the heroes were heading to the newly opened passage, the six friends were sure that Link knew who that little brat was, due to his behavior against him. They decided to ask later so that everyone could understand him.

The passage led them to a large area with ruins clearly indicating that there was originally a building here, but it crumbled as the years passed and left in ruins. At the backside was a destroyed staircase and at the very front were two statues placed at both sides of a closed door. Judging by the size of this area, it must have had once been a grand place.

At the very middle, there was a Triforce Symbol on the floor. Seeing that it also had the same symbol as the special Howling Stone from earlier, Link stood at the middle of the symbol and Howled Zelda's Lullaby.

Just then, the Triforce Symbol glowed gold and the door up ahead opened. To the heroes' surprise, one of the statues on the side spoke to them:

" _Go now to the sacred place, beasts… We yield passage to the Sacred Grove…"_

They went through the door, climbing the small staircase and reaching to a mist-shrouded clearing, where dappled sunlight beams down onto the blade of a large, spectacular weapon. Bearing a bright, silver pure blade shining like a diamond and a brilliant purple hilt with wing-shaped guards meeting a golden valuable diamond and grass-ropes on its grip, the Master Sword was resting silently on its pedestal surrounded by plant life.

"Wow… That's one heck of a sword." Sonic whispered in awe.

When they all got within inches of the sword, all of a sudden, a bright white light began to glow from the blade. A very strong force pulsating from it knocked Midna off from Link's back and nearly causing the beasts to lose their footing. They all felt like they were fighting against a cyclone.

Link felt that the sword was calling for him. He leads out a roar, to issue his worth of possessing the sword. The response came with beams of light coming out of the beasts' bodies before they became completely black and shards of twilight came out from them before a bright light engulfed the screen.

Eventually, the shards of twilight coalesced into the same seven cursed shards that were implanted inside the heroes' foreheads. They formed right on Midna's hand. She examined them for a moment before turning her attention to the group.

Link made a small grunt to pull out the sword with all his might while his friends watched. As he was pulling the sword out, a bright light shone on the pedestal. Once the sword was sled out of the pedestal, a column of light came from it. Link, now wielding the Master Sword, rose it into the sky and the mist covering the ground was dissipated.

" **The sword accepted you as its master…"** Midna said.

Looking all heroic, Link did a few swings with the blade before standing up and turning to his friends who were smiling at him.

"Thanks a lot, Link!" Mario thanked.

"No problem, everyone." Link replied.

"So this is the Master Sword. The princess was right when she said about this being a sacred sword able to repeal evil." Sonic remarked.

The rest of the group couldn't agree more. Soon, Midna came to them and showed them the seven Shadow Crystals that just materialized.

" **These things are the embodiments of the evil magic that Zant cast on you."** She said. **"They're definitely different from our tribe's shadow magic…"** she examines the crystals again. **"Careful… If you touch them, you'll turn back into beasts!"**

"So those things are what did that to us…" Link pondered.

" **Yes, these things are too dangerous… It's probably for the best if we just leave them here, huh?"** Midna clutched the crystals. She then looked at the sky and gave a thought: **"But on the other hand…if we kept it, you'd be able to transform into beasts anytime you wanted…"**

Everyone thought it should be a good idea; there might be situations where they would need the canine senses and howls or the strength of a Werehog.

" **Yes, since Zant was kind enough to give this to us, we should be thankful and use it all we can!"** Midna smirked. **"If any of you need them, then I'll place them in special pouches for you to carry them. These pouches will prevent you from transforming until you get your hands on the crystals."**

Midna uses her magic to create seven pouches for each of them and placed the Shadow Crystals inside them. She then hands each of them to each hero.

" **I want to keep a low profile, so I'll hide in Link's shadow when you're in your normal states, but I can help you whenever. You can be beasts anytime you like! Also, thanks to this thing, you can warp whenever you want by switching into beast forms…"**

Then, Midna floated over to Link's shoulder and placed her arms on it.

" **Hey, but listen, everyone… I've got a little favor to ask…"** she remained silent for a bit before finally completing: **"Would you mind coming with me to find something called the Mirror of Twilight? It's hidden somewhere in Hyrule..."**

"You mean the same one that you asked to Zelda back then?" Sonic asked.

" **Yes, the Mirror of Twilight… Our last potential link to Zant!"** Midna answered.

Everyone smiled back to her as she backed off a little bit with her hands behind her back before going back into Link's shadow. They turned back and prepared to leave the woods.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Midna's Lament is probably the most depressing part in this game. The music and the rain doesn't help either. I decided to skip the part with Jovani, since there won't be any side quests in my story.  
**

 **I tried to match the keys' names with each of their owners' main parts of their personalities. The one that was harder to me was Rosalina's, since she's a lone wolf and doesn't show a lot of emotions.**

 **I skipped a lot of the Sacred Grove and also the statue puzzle since I couldn't find a way to describe this part with more than one person.**

 **The Master Sword removed the curses on our heroes! But Zant had stolen the Fused Shadows and the three Chaos Emeralds... And new types of quests were unfolded. See you on the next chapter! Please review.**


	14. Having fun

**This chapter is a little bit different than the other ones...**

 **I hope you enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Having fun**

Previously, Link and his friends were cursed by the king of shadows, Zant. They managed to remove the curse thanks to the blade of evil's bane, the Master Sword, located in the Sacred Grove.

As they were exiting the Sacred Grove, Peach decided to ask Link about the mysterious child that was 'playing' with them within the dense woods.

"So, Link, what was that strange child that has been annoying us? Do you know him from somewhere else?" she asked.

"Oh, that was a Skull Kid. It is said that Skull Kids are the result of children's transformation when they are lost in the woods. I've heard that in the legends of the Hero of Time, the New Hero of Time's ancestor." Link answered.

"That sounds…terrible." Rosalina muttered.

"Indeed." Luigi agreed with her.

"Anyways, I think it's best for us to relax for a while; I'm feeling tired and we've never got a time to take a break actually." Link said.

"You're right. I would appreciate that. Then I'll finally be able to rest my legs." Sonic added.

"I know of a good place to take a break: I've heard of two types of tourism in the Upper Zora's River. We should go there."

"Uh, Link… We have a problem; there is no Warp Portal in the Upper Zora's River!" Sonic checked for portals in his map and there was indeed no portal in the Upper Zora's River.

"Well… I guess we'll have to warp in Zora's Domain, since it's the closest place to the Upper Zora's River."

* * *

With that said, Midna teleports everyone out of the Sacred Grove and to Zora's Domain. There, they had to go with the water current to take them to their destination. Once they arrived at the Upper Zora's River, they climbed back to dry land and Link spotted a door on the right.

"There's one of the places I was talking about!" he pointed at the door. "That door leads to Hena's Fishing Hole, a perfect place to fish and relax."

"Really? Sweet! Let's head there!" Sonic exclaimed.

They all went through the door.

On the other side, they found themselves in a beautiful grassy landscape with a massive pond. There was a cabin on the left side and cherry blossom tress were decorating this place. The heroes could listen to the ducks' quacking as they were swimming peacefully around the pond.

"This place is beautiful!" Peach squealed with glee. She was more focused on the cherry blossom trees, since cherry blossoms are her favorite type of flower.

"It sure is, Peach. Now, let's head into the cabin." Link directed to the cabin.

Once they entered the cabin, they watched their surroundings in amazement, with big smiles on their faces. That is, until they heard a female voice:

"Hi there!" it was from Hena, the owner of the fishing hole, standing on her balcony at the left side of the room. "Hey! You… You've never been here before, have you?"

"Nope, this is our first time, actually." Link answered.

"Well, I'm the owner of this fishing hole. My name is Hena. Nice to meet ya!" Hena said. "So you came here for some lure fishing? It's 20 Rupees for each to try some lure fishing. There's no time limit, and the canoe rental's included!"

"So, do you guys want to try too?" Link asked his friends.

"Thanks for the offer, but we'd rather relax and watch you." Sonic answered.

Link then paid Hena 20 Rupees to do some lure fishing by himself. Soon, Link and Hena were in a canoe for two people. Link's friends, who were standing at the coast, waved to him. Link waved back.

Link and Hena paddled their canoe with their oars to start Link's relaxing fishing experience. Hena tells Link that there is a very rare type of fish that neither she and her brother nor sister ever caught: the legendary Hylian Loach, who can weigh up to 27 inches!

Back at the coast, while Link was enjoying fishing, his six friends were looking around the place; they have never seen such a place in neither their worlds. Peach went to the nearest cherry blossom tree to pick up a cherry blossom flower.

"Beautiful…" she noticed the flower dazzle in the morning sun.

"You're into cherry blossoms again, huh?" Mario came to her.

"Oh, yes! I love cherry blossoms so much!" Peach exclaimed, turning to Mario.

"Yeah, I already know that since that time when we fought in the Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament. Your Final Smash was called Peach Blossom after all." Mario said.

"Yes, I remember that. But cherry blossoms produce cherries and not peaches, so I don't exactly know why my Final Smash showed cherry blossoms and peaches were falling from the sky." Peach pondered.

"I think it's because cherry blossoms matches you, even if your name is referred to a fruit." Mario responded with a smile.

"Hmm, maybe that's why you called me once like this: 'You're very sweet like a peach, but pretty like a cherry blossom flower'?" Peach smirked.

"Umm…what?" Mario blushed a little.

"Oh, Mario… Why are you so cute when you're blushing?" Peach giggled.

The rest of the group was watching Mario and Peach's romantic moment from afar.

" ***sigh*** that reminds me of when I and Daisy were having a date while standing under a rain of daisy petals... Now I kinda miss her." Luigi sighed.

"Don't worry, Luigi. Once we finally defeat that Zant guy, maybe we'll be able to go back home." Yoshi said.

"I hope so…"

The group then resumed watching the calming waters at the pond.

* * *

 _ **An hour later…**_

Link had managed to catch 5 Greengills, 3 Ordon Catfishes, 2 Hyrule Basses and 1 Hylian Pike, but no sign of the legendary Hylian Loach. He and his friends return to Hena's cabin.

"I'm quite impressed of how many fish you caught! Hmm, maybe next time you'll be able to find the legendary Hylian Loach? Come anytime!" Hena said.

The heroes left the fishing hole.

Back at the Upper Zora's River, Link directed them to the nearby cabin that's not hard to spot.

"The other tourism attraction is called Iza's Rapid Ride. Iza is Hena's sister, and she runs this attraction just like how Hena runs the fishing hole attraction." Link explained.

They went to where Iza was. However, she didn't look too happy:

"Hm… Customers? Sorry, but we're temporarily closed."

The heroes were astonished and frustrated at the same time when Iza said that and decided to leave. But all of a sudden, the same black pillars fell down, trapping them and three more Twilit Messengers dropped down. This also scared Iza.

"YAAAH!" she screamed.

The heroes fought and defeated the Messengers, and they exploded, creating another portal.

"Wow, who knew that a portal would actually show up on a place where I just pointed at?" Sonic commented.

"Whoa, that scared me…" Iza said, looking astonished. "Who…are you? How can you keep your cool fighting monsters like that? Uh… Wow… You… Wow, what champs you are! Well, what are we standing around jawing for? Come on inside!"

They followed Iza to her cabin. There, they stood on the balcony where Iza spoke:

"Golly… Talk about scary… I thought I was done for! Things have been getting pretty crazy around here, let me tell you… So thanks for earlier… My name's Iza. I rent boats here. Well, I USED to rent boats here, but then we had a rockfall and it dammed the river up. Yeah… I could sure use helpful guys and gals around at times like this…"

"We'll do whatever we can to help you, Iza." Link assured.

"REALLY?! You're lifesavers!" Iza exclaimed. She then directs her thumb to a wall of rocks up ahead. "Well, do you think you could do something about that rock? I'll give you handy guy some bombs and arrows, so you just put 'em together and shoot bomb arrows at that thing."

Link did as she told so, and successfully destroyed the rocks blocking the passage with the bomb arrows.

"YAY!" Iza cheered. "You did it!" she then remembers something. "Well, my gal tells me there are still some rocks blocking the way along the river, so you should take care of those, too. Here are your boats… Hop in!"

There were seven boats down to where Iza pointed at. The heroes hopped on each boat and picked up their oars.

"Now…it's a teensy bit dangerous downriver of here, so don't leave the boats, OK? One of our part-timers is waiting down there, so you can get the details from her!" Iza explained. "And when you're done, you can keep that bomb bag and everything in it as a token of my appreciation. So… Be seeing ya!" she waved to them.

The heroes began to go along the water current and paddled downstream. They passed by a cave filled with stalactites until they saw light again, where there was a waterfall at the front. This area they were paddling was under a rocky canyon filled with pieces of debris. They easily dodged the debris and passed under more waterfalls.

The current was slower by now, until it gets strong again when the heroes went down a terrifying waterfall stretch just a few feet away from the next blockade. Soon, Iza's Zora helper surfaces.

"Ah! You've come at the request of the shop owner, haven't you?" the Zora guessed. "Well, I'm in her employ…part-time, for now. I'm sorry we've troubled you so." She then points at the next blockade. "You see… These rocks are blocking the natural flow of the river. All you need to do is use your bomb arrows to destroy the blockage!"

Link then shoots two bomb arrows at the blockade, destroying it.

"You did it! Thank you!" the Zora clapped. "Ahh… And the water has already begun to flow. Then I shall guide you to the mouth of the river. Follow me!"

They followed the Zora downstream while she was throwing Rupees to help them track her. They passed by two more waterfalls and also under a dock. There were larger pieces of debris around too.

* * *

Soon, they finally reached the end of the course and dropped down from the large waterfall of Lake Hylia.

"Good job out there!" the Zora congratulated them, even though they've bonked a lot during the downstream.

The Zora guided them to dry land.

"You have truly done us a great service. Now the shop can finally reopen! When we were closed, my boss's temper only got worse and worse… It was a rough time for us all… Oh, and another thing… I don't suppose she promised you anything special for doing this, did she? Just that bomb bag, right? Yes, she tends to bribe people with whatever's lying around… So stingy, really… It's all right. I'll let her know you kept it when I get back." The Zora said.

Link was now able to hold both types of bombs thanks to the other bomb bag he got.

"Now, if you'll excuse me… Come visit at the shop sometime!" the Zora said before leaving with their boats.

"Man… That was so fun that I thought it would be!" Sonic said while stretching his arms.

"Yes. I think we've relaxed enough; time to head back to where we left off." Link said.

"And where do we go now?" Yoshi asked.

"At Telma's Bar at Castle Town. After all, she asked us to join her whatever group she is part of." Link answered.

They then teleported from Lake Hylia to Castle Town. There, once inside the western part of Castle Town, they went south.

"Hold on, I just remembered something important involving me and Sonic." Link suddenly spoke while stopping. He turns to Sonic. "Sonic, come with me to learn the next hidden skill. It is located at the south of Castle Town."

"Okay! You all wait here." Sonic requested.

The rest nodded and Link and Sonic left Castle Town by themselves. Once at the south Hyrule Field, they looked at the very left side of the great stone wall to find the golden wolf and the silver werewolf.

* * *

Once they were warped into the snowy realm, the ghostly beasts changed into their Hero's Shade forms.

" _We meet again."_ The human Hero's Shade said.

" _This next is the greatest of the hidden skills we have taught you to this point, and it may test the limits of your endurances…"_ the hedgehog Hero's Shade said.

The duo braced themselves for their next skill. The next skills they each learned this time were the Helm Splitter and the Homing Kick (the move Sonic does in _Sonic Lost World_ ). Both these techniques allowed them to attack their enemies from above, especially if their whole bodies are covered in armor.

" _There are still three hidden skills for you to learn."_ The hedgehog Hero's Shade said.

" _Do not neglect your daily sword training and speed maneuver between now and the time you come to learn the next skills!"_ the human Hero's Shade added before saying his parting words: _"May we meet again."_

* * *

After that, the duo head back to where the rest was and they all made their way to Telma's Bar. Upon their entering, Telma immediately eyed at them:

"Oh my… If it isn't Link and his friends!"

They walked towards the balcony where Telma was standing at.

"You made it! How've been?" she spoke. "Mercy, but you have good timing. I was just talking about you!" she then turned around to a table at her left. "Hey, everyone! Introduce yourselves!" immediately, the people by the table eyed the heroes. "This handsome young man is the infamous Link! And those are his loyal friends! Please welcome Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Rosalina and Sonic!"

The seven approached the table. The scholar-looking man was the first one to speak:

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Shad. Wonderful to meet you. Telma told me all you've been up to. You're rather formidable! But… I'm rather NOT, I'm afraid. Well, I'm formidable at book reading, but I lack, shall we say, physical skills. That said, if the history and legends of Hyrule are your cup of tea, I'm your fellow! If you're curious, just ask away."

The woman clad in armor was the next one:

"I'm Ashei. I grew up in the mountains with my father, who was a knight in his own right. He taught me the arts of war as though I was his son. Of course, lessons in common courtesy were not part of the regimen, so forgive me if I come off as rude, yeah? Listen, before I blab your ears off, I want to tell you something. Snowpeak, the mountain to the north of Hyrule… It's unlike any mountain I've ever known. I don't know much yet, but things happen there that happen on no other mountain I know of… Evil controls it… As soon as I know something more, I'll tell you. Until then, you should stay away, yeah?"

Finally, a mysterious but quite familiar helmeted man sitting by was the next one to speak:

"It has been a long time… Everyone!" to the heroes' surprise, the man removed the helmet revealing Rusl!

"Rusl?! What are you doing here?" Link asked.

"My wife, Uli, sent word to me. I have seen the children in Kakariko Village!" Rusl said. "And, of course, I have also heard of your adventures! I must thank you all for your help with Colin. I barely recognized him… In any case, I am troubled by my own inaction. I want to help the cause."

"So you mean you're a part of this group?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, Sonic. These friends here… I have had a connection with them for a long while." Rusl answered and puts his helmet back on. "Like the others, I am gathering information now. I will let you know if I hear anything."

Then, the heroes decided to check the map for their next goal. There was a red mark at the Lake Hylia at the lower left part of it.

"There is another member of this group, but he is at Lake Hylia, studying the desert. He's an old codger named Auru." Shad explained. "He knows several things from his time as a member of the royal court. He even tutored Princess Zelda when she was young."

The heroes marked the exact same location on their map, and bid a farewell to Telma and her group members. After exiting Castle Town, they warped to Lake Hylia.

* * *

There, they went to the large tower where the mark on the map was at. They climbed to the top using the stairs, and there they saw a hooded man looking through a spyglass toward a closed off region of the area. They suspected that this man was Auru.

"I thought it was about time for you to arrive…" Auru spoke. He turns around and removes his hood. "You do know Telma, don't you? I am Auru. I am part of the group that Telma kindly allows to meet at her bar. I have heard all about your deeds from her. Now… You being courageous youths… You have likely heard of the strange events in the desert and come to investigate, no?"

"Yes, that's why we're here. Do you know some things about this desert?" Mario asked.

"The Gerudo Desert once held a prison built to hold the worst criminals this land has ever known… The criminals who were sentenced to death were sent directly to the underworld by a cursed mirror that was kept in the prison…" Auru explained.

" _Maybe that's where the Mirror of Twilight is hidden!_ " all of the heroes thought.

"Now that prison is condemned, and even the road leading to the desert is impassible." Auru continued. "This desert at world's end… It still holds the cursed mirror and the malice of the doomed inmates… These old bones know that the evil currently plaguing Hyrule is related to this wicked place. So I have come to learn the truth…"

"Thanks for telling us all the info, Auru. So, how do we reach the desert?" Sonic asked.

This left Auru surprised:

"Don't tell me you plan to enter the desert and confirm my suspicions with your own eyes?!"

"Yes. We are actually searching for something and we're certain that this prison is where the item might be" Mario said. "We cannot say other than this; this item is essential to save Hyrule."

"Ah, is that so… Then let good old Auru help you out… You see Lake Hylia below us? A man named Fyer runs an amusement ride of sorts there. Give him this." Auru hands them a memo. "See, long ago, I saved this man Fyer's life, and now he cannot refuse me if I ask a favor. If you leave the rest up to Fyer, all should go well."

"Alright, thanks Auru." Link thanked him and him and his friends went down the tower.

But before that, Link noticed a Howling Stone on his right, so he told his friends to wait so that he could turn into a wolf using the Shadow Crystal and howl a new song: the Song of Heroes. The golden wolf and the silver werewolf were at the Desert Province location.

With that taken care of, the heroes went to Fyer and handed him Auru's memo.

"Hrrrm… From old Auru, huh…" he said. "Ah well, I guess I oughta do what the old coot says… Oasis flight…right? So here you go, one of our secret options not available to the general public… Well, sweet sailing, buddies of mine. Seven for oasis…fire in the hole!"

They entered inside the cannon and were shot all the way to the new province.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **I really wanted to put in Hena's Fishing Hole and Iza's Rapid Ride in my story, something that is never seen when writing a Zelda story, right? Maybe I added them in my story because I liked both attractions' music.  
**

 **Our heroes are about to reach Gerudo Desert in the Desert Province! Stay tuned! Please review.**


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